Carrying Florida is best done when a family insider can throw the election for you. Is there another Bush brother who can become governor in time for Jeb's run?
1
I think Jeb would be a disaster for the Country. He has proven himself to be a Liberal in Republican clothes and would continue the same Big government spending that started in earnest under Clinton. He is Hillary lite in many respects and would be just another Liberal Tax and spend except with an R after his name.
No more Romneys, Bushes, Doles or McCains. America needs a Conservative. And the person today is Cruz.
No more Romneys, Bushes, Doles or McCains. America needs a Conservative. And the person today is Cruz.
Why does every rumor, planted or spurious, every campaign non-announcement, every trial balloon, and every opinion rate a front page story in the year-long soap opera preceding an actual nomination? If there's news, then print it. Otherwise, it seems to me it all simply boils down to the Times allowing itself to be used as free advertising for every actual or wannabee candidate.
3
Having watched more election-night coverage than I'll plead guilty too, I appreciate how much both parties just count the states, one by one. Most of them are foregone conclusions. Florida and Ohio are not. There's a near-zero chance that Bush would lose Florida, and a low chance he'll lose Ohio if he picks Ohio Governor Kasich as his running mate. Democrats are making much too much of this so-callec "demographic drift." Certainly there are more voters every year in ethnic groups that traditionally vote for Democrats, BUT (1) there aren't as many more new ones as some people mistakenly believe; and (2) a lot of those solid "Democrat" voters vote Republican.
2016 is the Democrats' to win -- but it they don't affirmatively win it, the Republicans will waltz into the White House.
2016 is the Democrats' to win -- but it they don't affirmatively win it, the Republicans will waltz into the White House.
1
"How could he not win the state [Florida]?"
Of course he'll win the state. Anybody who says otherwise deserves to be doubted on whatever else they predict. One can fairly predict other bad things may happen to the Republicans in 2016, but if Jeb Bush wins the nomination, the chances of him losing Florida in the general election are slim to none, and Slim just left town.
People can talk all they want about "demographic drift," but chalk up Florida in the Bush column if he wins the Republican nomination. Best to talk about other states.
Of course he'll win the state. Anybody who says otherwise deserves to be doubted on whatever else they predict. One can fairly predict other bad things may happen to the Republicans in 2016, but if Jeb Bush wins the nomination, the chances of him losing Florida in the general election are slim to none, and Slim just left town.
People can talk all they want about "demographic drift," but chalk up Florida in the Bush column if he wins the Republican nomination. Best to talk about other states.
1
"...both of these guys deny that the ocean is rising [in Florida]..."
Whether or not the ocean is rising in Florida isn't a matter of opinion -- it's a matter of fact. I don't know about Miami, but here in San Francisco, where I've lived for the past 40 years, I can assure you that the ocean is not rising -- at all. If you're the sort that pays attentions to facts, that's a fact.
Whether or not the ocean is rising in Florida isn't a matter of opinion -- it's a matter of fact. I don't know about Miami, but here in San Francisco, where I've lived for the past 40 years, I can assure you that the ocean is not rising -- at all. If you're the sort that pays attentions to facts, that's a fact.
Let's hope he wins the battle but loses the war.
2
I'm sure Ted Cruz's Cuban father will have more than a few things to say to the Cuban-American Floridians. And, with Jeb literally HATED by the Tea Party contingent, which comprises a huge segment of Florida voters, Cruz will have no problem painting Jeb the RINO that he is. This is going to be FUN!!!
1
Hillary all the way for me.........could never vote for a REPUBLICAN Bush or otherwise. He did nothing outstanding during his tenure as Governor of Florida. One exception being muddying the Bush V. Gore election.
Another being anti gay, women's rights, non-inclusive and the list goes. My vote could not go to any of the REPUBLICAN candidates. Hillary is the most qualified of the field and has a vision to bring this country back from the BUSH years that brought us to our knees with war and financially.
Another being anti gay, women's rights, non-inclusive and the list goes. My vote could not go to any of the REPUBLICAN candidates. Hillary is the most qualified of the field and has a vision to bring this country back from the BUSH years that brought us to our knees with war and financially.
3
I'll take crooked elections for 500. What is voter suppression?
5
The Marijuana vote will determine the election in Florida. Jeb and Rubio are both anti marijuana and have long dismissed those who want to end the police state of hemp prohibition as not being important enough to represent. We put up 58 percent in the last election in spite of the complete opposition of law enforcement, the political class and the bought and paid for media. Outside alcohol and gambling money was used to spread lies and fear, all with the blessing of republicans.
It's as though the media is hyped up to give us two candidates while silent on better candidates. We can do better than Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. Do we need more political dynasties here in America. Is Hillary, for example, the only Democrat running in 2016? Well so far I guess. I'm from Florida and Jeb was a great governor, and that was then. Now he sounds more like some milk-toast Republican who is closer to Hillary than anyone else. We need an alternative to left of center. I will not be voting to nominate Jeb Bush in FL and I believe I represent millions of people.
1
Neither gets my vote!
2
[[Jeb Bush Team Plots a Vast Effort to Win Florida in 2016]]
I guess the alternative headline was too wordy.
[[Sixteen Years Later, Jeb Bush Returns to the Scene of the Crime]]
Maybe he can get Katherine Harris out of mothballs to head up his operation there.
I guess the alternative headline was too wordy.
[[Sixteen Years Later, Jeb Bush Returns to the Scene of the Crime]]
Maybe he can get Katherine Harris out of mothballs to head up his operation there.
7
Jeb plotted a vast effort in Florida in 2000 to win the presidency for his brother.
It helped.
It helped.
5
My state, Louisiana, is steeped in the Tea Party flavor of the Republican brand that spills over a wide swath of the Floridian panhandle. And while Louisiana's electoral vote is inconsequential as compared to Florida's, I am assured by my neighbors that Jeb Bush isn't quite to their taste. Much like Romney, if Jeb Bush were to somehow achieve the Republican nomination, he would find at best only tepid support.
1
Where's my passport? And, does anyone know who's hiring in Canada?
5
My political point of view … I am a Progressive. My views are generally aligned with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, although I do find other points of view valuable when there’s data to support them. So, the chances are near zero that I would consider voting for Jeb Bush … or any other Republican for President.
To me Jeb Bush epitomizes Bush nepotism, and crony capitalism and influence peddling. Members of the Bush family have made their way through life and climb the political ladder using their connections and family name. In Florida, Jeb Bush seems to be creating his political fortress in the tried and true Bush-way. And I suspect that he believes that this path will take him successfully through the Republican primaries to the nomination and the general election.
People who live in lofty towers can have them undermined. I don’t believe that Mr. Bush fully understanding the new Republican party and the forces that steer it. Senator Rubio is much closer to the base of the new party and he has clearly grasped that knowledge and logic are irrelevant to the base of the Republican party. The Bush connections may not work as before. Extremist views, continual fault finding of Pres. Obama, etc. these are the things that light up the voters … and Mr. Bush lack of understanding of these forces will likely lead to Mr. Bush’s failure to even receive the nomination.
To me Jeb Bush epitomizes Bush nepotism, and crony capitalism and influence peddling. Members of the Bush family have made their way through life and climb the political ladder using their connections and family name. In Florida, Jeb Bush seems to be creating his political fortress in the tried and true Bush-way. And I suspect that he believes that this path will take him successfully through the Republican primaries to the nomination and the general election.
People who live in lofty towers can have them undermined. I don’t believe that Mr. Bush fully understanding the new Republican party and the forces that steer it. Senator Rubio is much closer to the base of the new party and he has clearly grasped that knowledge and logic are irrelevant to the base of the Republican party. The Bush connections may not work as before. Extremist views, continual fault finding of Pres. Obama, etc. these are the things that light up the voters … and Mr. Bush lack of understanding of these forces will likely lead to Mr. Bush’s failure to even receive the nomination.
3
Let us pray...er, at least one can hope for "Mr. Bush's failure to even receive the nomination."
Jeb, just go talk with Debbie Wasserman Schultz. You are a much better fit with the Democrat party than with the Republicans. In fact, the Republicans don't want you on our ticket. Furthermore, we have had enough of the Bush's. Bush 43 turned Democrat in his second term. Go away, Jeb!
1
Bush's record as a Florida governor would beg to differ.
All Americans are politically polarized into three regions: centrist, rightist and leftist. Centrists constitute close to 20%, rightists constitute close to 40% and the leftists constitute close to 40%. 40% rightists may again be sub-divided into large constituents - radical right wing like tea party 20% and the other not so extreme right wing 20%. During the presidential primary of GOP, 40 % rightists will be the focus for each candidate. To win this battle they will mess up their message so much that during the general election they will be seen as big flip-flopper. The result like Romney is that GOP cannot win the Presidency. The case is very different for the democratic party - at least messages may not that screwed up to be flip-flopper.
1
I'm disgusted by the militarism this shows. Bush isn't campaigning to win on merit in his own state. He's just planning to negate any possible outcome that he doesn't want.
4
Here we go again: The Times focuses on the horse-race rather than the policies. I expected more.
1
Ah to live somewhere else but Florida during the elections. I absolutely dread the onslaught of the republican political money.
7
The good news is a good chunk of that money will go to your local newspapers. Perhaps they can use it to do in depth reporting as opposed to horse race coverage.
1
Hopefully this "vast effort" will be a vast waste of Jeb Bush's campaign finances. The last thing this country need is another member of this ignorant, dishonest family in our federal government.
5
The Republicans nominated and voted for his brother and Jeb's far brighter than him, so they'll presumably vote for Jeb too.
Baby Bush will win the Republican nomination because:
1. He is next in line.
2. He the is embodiment of the party establishment (knows how to drink water and talk at the same time).
3. He is a proven winner in a swinger state (More chads then an IBM mfcu ).
4. He is is trusted by Big Money conservatives ("I is your main Man, sugar Daddy").
5. Party insiders will help deflate the hopes of insurgents (especially Christie).
6. Republicans have lost all social scientists and political intellectuals in the party (Rand Paul does not count).
Baby Bush will win the Republican nomination because:
1. He is next in line.
2. He the is embodiment of the party establishment (knows how to drink water and talk at the same time).
3. He is a proven winner in a swinger state (More chads then an IBM mfcu ).
4. He is is trusted by Big Money conservatives ("I is your main Man, sugar Daddy").
5. Party insiders will help deflate the hopes of insurgents (especially Christie).
6. Republicans have lost all social scientists and political intellectuals in the party (Rand Paul does not count).
2
I sure wish the Bushes would just go away
5
What? Is he arranging to deploy Nader or Pat Buchanan to play havoc with the primary election, or is he merely going to wait for the Supreme Court to anoint him the victor? Maybe he can rally up the Brooks Brothers rioters to carry him through.
4
After working to GOTV in my district in 2014, I am absolutely sure that whomever has the "R" after his name will get the republican vote - even if it's just a rabid dog.
1
Why does every rumor, planted or spurious, every campaign non-announcement, every trial balloon, and every opinion rate a front page story in the year-long soap opera preceding an actual nomination? If there's news, then print it. Otherwise, it seems to me it all simply boils down to the Times allowing itself to be used as free advertising for every actual or wannabee candidate.
Jeb Bush helped oversee the recount in Fla. in 2000 general election? Is the writer kidding. Jeb helped direct the theft of that state's electoral votes to his dimwitted brother and changed the course of history down a long, bloody, very costly road. Elizabeth Warren for president. Please.
9
If Jeb was governor, the people in the state will have a good idea of whether he was a good governor or not and will vote accordingly. The only reason he would need a huge campaign in Florida is if he wasn't very well liked as a Governor.
He probably looks good compared to Rick Scott, but will he look good enough to be President of the United States?
Florida should be easy for Bush if he was a good governor. Guess, he thinks his constituents weren't pleased. If the Florida voters were not pleased with Bush's performance as Governor, it will be hard to buy enough air time for Jeb to Win.
He probably looks good compared to Rick Scott, but will he look good enough to be President of the United States?
Florida should be easy for Bush if he was a good governor. Guess, he thinks his constituents weren't pleased. If the Florida voters were not pleased with Bush's performance as Governor, it will be hard to buy enough air time for Jeb to Win.
2
Hypothetical question for American voters: If the Florida recount went differently in the 2000 election campaign between Gore and Bush II.. would America still have wasted $4 Trillion Dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan?
6
Will Jeb be telling Florida retirees that the GOP will turn Medicare into a voucher program after the elections ? After all, I'm only in my 50's and pay a mere $1400 a month for health insurance in Florida. Oh yeah, and that is under an ACA compliant plan. I imagine private insurers will offer us a wonderful discount for reaching 70.
The real costs of private health insurance is not a message that will play to seniors in Palatka my friend.
Better rake in the PAC dough for some "targeted advertisements" and cue up Fox News to get the Giant Obfuscation Plan rollin' on steroids. Stat.
The real costs of private health insurance is not a message that will play to seniors in Palatka my friend.
Better rake in the PAC dough for some "targeted advertisements" and cue up Fox News to get the Giant Obfuscation Plan rollin' on steroids. Stat.
8
Win Florida? Stealing's not good enough?
13
Lipstick on a pig. He's not a real Republican and he has near zero support for GOP voters. His views are that of a Democrat, so why are they going to elect him in a GOP primary vote. The mainstream media can call him a contender for thousands of times but it doesn't make it so.
2
I quote a quote.
"Without Florida,” said Bob Martinez, a longtime Bush friend and a former governor of Florida himself, “he knows it would be hard to make the numbers work.”"
No. Without Florida, the Republican candidate whoever it is will be dead in
the water. Absolutely no Republican White House without Florida.
"Without Florida,” said Bob Martinez, a longtime Bush friend and a former governor of Florida himself, “he knows it would be hard to make the numbers work.”"
No. Without Florida, the Republican candidate whoever it is will be dead in
the water. Absolutely no Republican White House without Florida.
4
do you suppose he will believe in global warming when his feet get wet?
10
Sign of the times -The fall of the American Empire: Bush vs. Clinton.
6
I believe the word *plot* is used here in the same sense as *to plot a course,* not as being something nefarious.
3
This story tells us of Gov. Bush's money connections. There isn't a sentence about governing or ideas. Not one. Marco Rubio wants an eternal, antagonistic confrontation with Cuba. No ideas from his camp, either. This story shows how Citizens United works. It's all about being rich and keeping rich people rich. Nothing about a new direction for America. Nothing.
20
"Norman Braman, the billionaire Miami auto dealer, has told friends that he may invest up to $10 million in Mr. Rubio’s presidential bid, . . ."
I don't know if these are Mr. Braman's exact words, or those of the writer, but if the former they succinctly frame our country's problem: that billionaires are **investing** in future presidents. Contributing is bad enough, but if they are calculating their return on investment, we are in big trouble.
I don't know if these are Mr. Braman's exact words, or those of the writer, but if the former they succinctly frame our country's problem: that billionaires are **investing** in future presidents. Contributing is bad enough, but if they are calculating their return on investment, we are in big trouble.
16
It's not an "IF" that they are calculating their return on investment.
1
Jeb Bush seems a nice enough fellow, has excellent patrician pedigree, which is an admirable quality. However, he does lack the intangible element of leadership, a quality desperately needed by a confused frustrated America. Let others be candidates. An early retirement to 'The Villages' in Florida might be an option, a part time job at Disney World. Many options for this somewhat pleasant, yet forgettable man..
9
What is worse: three Bush Presidents or two Clinton Presidents. Both are a shame as we need fresh leaders to turn our country around. And without public financing of elections; we end up with leaders beholdent to special interests with deep pockets.
How can anything go wrong with this scenario?
How can anything go wrong with this scenario?
6
Dear Jeb:
Just call your homies at the supreme court. Deal done.
Just call your homies at the supreme court. Deal done.
12
jeb, do us all a favor and quite now.
7
Since he's a Republican, he "plots". If he were a Democrat, he would plan.
6
Yes. There is no denying reality, is there?
11
Oh oh... More hanging chads. Cue the Supreme Court.
11
Well, there are always hanging chads, men in white shirts rampaging through voting spots, and a Supreme Court filled with men aching to gut abortion laws.
Yes, Florida's always been a sticking point.
Yes, Florida's always been a sticking point.
11
And has not changed. Probably became worse, from what I can observe.
6
And convicted felons who are stripped of their right to vote, even after they've served their time and are returned to the community. Let's not forget that neat little voter suppression trick.
7
You need to start wondering what's wrong with your party's platform when felons are a key component of your base.
1
God help us all!
11
Too late. The Supreme Court considers itself above God and have proven they will not help truth and fairness.
4
Why does the GOP need to do anything different than what it did in Florida in 2000? Just get it close enough so that their election board and state supreme court appointees can =steal= the election? ("Just =win=, baby. Just win.")
8
The Florida Supreme Court wanted to keep counting the ballots in 2000. That's why W appealed and took it to the U.S. Supreme Court. They were the ones who crowned W, not the Florida justices.
8
"Plots" an effort? "Plot" implies acting deviously. The word you want is "plans".
One can "plot" a course, as on a map, with no devious intent, or suggestion. Some words have two meanings.
6
Florida is a temporary problem. Thanks to the Koch bros, in a few years half the state will be underwater, and the state's political importance will shrink accordingly.
10
"In what advisers said could amount to a $50 million undertaking by Election Day..."
Does this refer to the general election or the primary? If it's the primary, it is an extraordinary amount of money to spend to win what is supposedly one's home base. To put the figure in perspective, it's the amount cited in another piece in today's Times which states that Ted Cruz plans to raise that much for his entire campaign.
If you're allocating such a huge amount to win a home state primary, that isn't a sign of confidence -- it's a sign of fear -- unless one essentially has unlimited resources, which may well be the case. If so, it makes one wonder who's footing the bill for such a generous campaign budget. While Bush is wealthy, he's not THAT wealthy to be doing this on his own. Campaign reporters, please follow the money with Bush and the other candidates.
Does this refer to the general election or the primary? If it's the primary, it is an extraordinary amount of money to spend to win what is supposedly one's home base. To put the figure in perspective, it's the amount cited in another piece in today's Times which states that Ted Cruz plans to raise that much for his entire campaign.
If you're allocating such a huge amount to win a home state primary, that isn't a sign of confidence -- it's a sign of fear -- unless one essentially has unlimited resources, which may well be the case. If so, it makes one wonder who's footing the bill for such a generous campaign budget. While Bush is wealthy, he's not THAT wealthy to be doing this on his own. Campaign reporters, please follow the money with Bush and the other candidates.
3
And where do you suppose those great sums of money come from???
2
Just what Florida needs - more visits from ex-Governor Scrooge, a man who's never had any problems with the idea that unregulated business can do no wrong - even when it provides the worst service you can imagine (Think bug-ridden computer software, used in high-stakes testing in the public schools, which can barely afford it anyway) - enforced by heavy-handed measures against those who dare to dissent. He may be focused on 2016, for this chap and his henchmen every year is '1984'. Haven't we had enough doublethink already?
10
Anyone would have to be totally ignorant and thoroughly blinded to think that Jeb Bush did a great job as Governor. HIs claim to fame is helping his brother through maneuvering the vote in his favor against Gore. Sure he did....
Sick of anymore Bush's, none were anything to write home about....
Sick of anymore Bush's, none were anything to write home about....
9
Plots. Vast. And Jeb is a Republican. Hmmm, if I weren't already a jaded New Yorker, I'd say the Times is trying to send a not so subtle message with this headline.
2
The term, "PLOTS" gives the whole article a sinister slant. Let all 'Four' duke it out in Florida. Three of them will be eliminated. Thank God! Winner- the last man standing. Whooo!
1
Can't they just steal it again like Jeb did for his brother in 2000?
18
Jeb Bush is from the same village as his brother, the village idiot, who was elected President of the US - to our great regret.
Pushing Jeb Bush is:
The media for the reasons of celebrity and for something to write about for dramatic effect for the election race.
Monied interests with agendas and for influence and control.
Family interests to see if it can be done ..... again, just for fun.
Former Bush operatives and administrative job holders from Bush I and Bush II for the sake of prominence and recognition once again.
(Do we really want all that ilk - Cheney, Rove, "W" back again.)
I am exhausted just thinking about it.
Spare us the turmoil..... for the sake of our collective sanity.
We can do better and most likely the world hopes so as well.
Pushing Jeb Bush is:
The media for the reasons of celebrity and for something to write about for dramatic effect for the election race.
Monied interests with agendas and for influence and control.
Family interests to see if it can be done ..... again, just for fun.
Former Bush operatives and administrative job holders from Bush I and Bush II for the sake of prominence and recognition once again.
(Do we really want all that ilk - Cheney, Rove, "W" back again.)
I am exhausted just thinking about it.
Spare us the turmoil..... for the sake of our collective sanity.
We can do better and most likely the world hopes so as well.
7
Please no more Bush's or Clinton's. This country deserves new leaders not retreads. If the repubs want to insure Hillary's election just run Jeb Bush against her.
1
Florida does not want Bush or Hillary. Rubio...maybe. Media..it's much too early to start the 2016 lottery game!!! We, the people, are sick and tired of politics in-our-face every single solitary day. We've just barely recovered from robocalls, repugnant tv commercials/messages, etc. from the 2014 elections; and now we're headed into 2016 debacle for President of the U.S.A. Polls, consultants, candidates, morning news shows, sunday faux political debates, caucuses....give it a rest!!!
2
Well Jeb knows how to do this since he helped his brother W steal the Florida election in 2000.
12
No, never, ! No more Bushes ever! Every time a Bush get in office, we go broke, the economy crashes and we go to war! NO!
19
Good God, the last thing we need is another Bush Presidency. I just hope America realizes this and that no amount of spending will convince us otherwise.
11
"Plots vast effort?" I thought I was reading about the Times strategy to protect Hillary Clinton from intense scrutiny given her propensity to ignore the rule of law and receive money from foreign governments? No? This is about Jeb Bush?
Why it it that the New York Times every Presidemtial cycle acts as if their role is to not talk about the issues but dig up pointless and ridiculous bits of information on the perceived Republican front runner
Remember Gail Collins column. "Scott Walker needs an Eraser?" She lied about his role in teacher layoffs. And rather admit Her mistake the board issued a retraction. Think that will be the lest time that happens?
The Times is going to have to figure out is how will they defend Hillary when
1) she sat on the Board of Wal Mart from 1987-1992
2) Refused to designate Bolo Haran a terrorist group in 2011
3) Paid her females in her Senate office 62 cents on the dollar
4) The Clinton Founation took $500,000 from Algeria, violatingObama's demand she refrain while at State
5) Took millions from Qatar, Oman, Kuwait,UE and Saudi Arabia, regimes that are extremely repressive to women? Does that help break the glass ceiling for women?
Trying to defend Hillsry is like putting a steri strip on a gasping wound
Why it it that the New York Times every Presidemtial cycle acts as if their role is to not talk about the issues but dig up pointless and ridiculous bits of information on the perceived Republican front runner
Remember Gail Collins column. "Scott Walker needs an Eraser?" She lied about his role in teacher layoffs. And rather admit Her mistake the board issued a retraction. Think that will be the lest time that happens?
The Times is going to have to figure out is how will they defend Hillary when
1) she sat on the Board of Wal Mart from 1987-1992
2) Refused to designate Bolo Haran a terrorist group in 2011
3) Paid her females in her Senate office 62 cents on the dollar
4) The Clinton Founation took $500,000 from Algeria, violatingObama's demand she refrain while at State
5) Took millions from Qatar, Oman, Kuwait,UE and Saudi Arabia, regimes that are extremely repressive to women? Does that help break the glass ceiling for women?
Trying to defend Hillsry is like putting a steri strip on a gasping wound
3
Rather than engage you on all of the misinformation in your post ill simply ask, what "rule of law" has Sec. Clinton ignored and why are you so surprised that the Clinton "Global" Initiative would accept donations from around the "globe"?
5
In other words, he can't defend Hillary.
So, how many hundreds of thousands of votes is he going to suppress this time?
19
That Jeb Bush would require a 'vast effort' to win the primary in the state of which he was governor speaks eloquently to the weakness of his candidacy.
44
Like him or not, Bush will win Florida. (His brother and father won it each of the three times they ran for President.) If he picks, say, Ohio Governor Kasich as his running mate, he probably will win Ohio too. Florida plus Ohio plus the reliably Republican states? Like him or not, looks like a shoo-in for Jeb.
3
Well, his brother sort of won it in 2000....
5
Hopefully there will be some sort of monitoring of the elections in Florida, to be sure that they are fair and open, without voter suppression.
2
I have no clue who I am voting for. If Jebb Bush is the nominee, I might vote for him if his positions, on balance, seem good for the country. Or, I might vote for Mrs. Clinton.I am a long way from making up my mind, which I guess puts me in a small minority.
I am astounded how at this early stage, some comments about Mr. Bush are so vitriolic that, based upon them alone, Bush sounds like the second coming of Atilla the Hun. Of course, Mrs. Clinton is similarly vilified by her detractors. Are we all so set in our ways, and so committed to partisanship, that we refuse to dispassionately consider the alternative's before us, and to seriously and deliberately evaluate pros and cons ?
If we are all so close minded, too bad we can't hold the election now and get it over with.
I am astounded how at this early stage, some comments about Mr. Bush are so vitriolic that, based upon them alone, Bush sounds like the second coming of Atilla the Hun. Of course, Mrs. Clinton is similarly vilified by her detractors. Are we all so set in our ways, and so committed to partisanship, that we refuse to dispassionately consider the alternative's before us, and to seriously and deliberately evaluate pros and cons ?
If we are all so close minded, too bad we can't hold the election now and get it over with.
Have you even been listening to the disrespectful at best, hateful at worst talk from the right about President Obama?
3
Please, really please. No more (burning) Bushes; Clinton's or any of America's elite. I "love" the USA and hope to be there soon again.
As South African all I can say is think out of the box and vote for someone who has a backbone and will not be influenced by big business and look to supporting the real employers - small and medium-sized enterprises.
We are in the crapper here due to some of the most archaic laws reintroduced by the ANC and up-held by Zuma and his acolytes.
The man is even less bright than GW Bush - heaven help us.
As South African all I can say is think out of the box and vote for someone who has a backbone and will not be influenced by big business and look to supporting the real employers - small and medium-sized enterprises.
We are in the crapper here due to some of the most archaic laws reintroduced by the ANC and up-held by Zuma and his acolytes.
The man is even less bright than GW Bush - heaven help us.
3
" ... a daunting roadblock: a changing electorate. Even as Republicans control every level of state government, they cannot control the increasing Democratic tinge of important groups of voters ..."
Oh, c'mon. Jeb's been there and done that in terms of voter and vote suppression.
We all know how Jeb pulled the strings, along with the chief Bush consigliere, James Baker, on the Florida recount in 2000.
And you can read all about the likely Democratic voter unfriendly monkey business that Jeb had Kathryn Harris authorize with the Florida Central Voter List in 2000:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File
Of course, none of this scandalous behavior made any difference because Brother W won by such an overwhelming margin in 2000.
But wait!
Oh, c'mon. Jeb's been there and done that in terms of voter and vote suppression.
We all know how Jeb pulled the strings, along with the chief Bush consigliere, James Baker, on the Florida recount in 2000.
And you can read all about the likely Democratic voter unfriendly monkey business that Jeb had Kathryn Harris authorize with the Florida Central Voter List in 2000:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Central_Voter_File
Of course, none of this scandalous behavior made any difference because Brother W won by such an overwhelming margin in 2000.
But wait!
6
The Florida Republican primary will be , even if there are only two candidates be one really REALLY expensive election. The fact that Mr. Bush is planning to spend an as yet to be determined amount (but we know LARGE) amount of money. Means, simply, that if does NOT win and win big in Florida his campaign is over and done with.
2
After destroying public education for personal gain, Jeb Bush is a shoe in to win the republican primary in Florida.
4
Just out of curiosity: do these people ever go to jail? Where they belong?
3
Go away. Reading this also reminds me, the NYTimes helped sell us the Iraq War.
3
I just finished watching Season 3 of House of Cards. Reading this article took me back to Frank Underwood's world. I don't think I have the stomach for 2016.
3
it's difficult to get excited about Bush or Rubio. I get that the GOP wants to play the "Hispanic Card". But, Hispanics are not monolithic as a group.
Bush is, well what can you say, just another installment of the Bush Dynasty. Two Bushes, three wars, two recessions, one depression and at least half of the illegal immigrants. What's not to like. Please give me more. Can't wait for the third season, the only thing that could top results of Bush 1 & 2 is the Apocalypse.
As for Rubio; other than Fox giving him an inordinate amount of airtime what has he accomplished? Gee, talks real good. Seems like we have that now as President. That is a winner. Not!
Bush is, well what can you say, just another installment of the Bush Dynasty. Two Bushes, three wars, two recessions, one depression and at least half of the illegal immigrants. What's not to like. Please give me more. Can't wait for the third season, the only thing that could top results of Bush 1 & 2 is the Apocalypse.
As for Rubio; other than Fox giving him an inordinate amount of airtime what has he accomplished? Gee, talks real good. Seems like we have that now as President. That is a winner. Not!
5
oh- those nefarious Bush people - the NYT describes it as a "plot"
1
"Jeb Bush Team Plots a Vast Effort to Win Florida in 2016"?
Just like his "vast effort" in 2000?
Enough Bush "efforts" and enough of Bushes!
Just like his "vast effort" in 2000?
Enough Bush "efforts" and enough of Bushes!
4
Unless one is a political spectator from outside of Florida or an ostensibly moderate RPOF (the state GOP) member, the notion of Jeb Bush as a winning candidate is rather farcical. For one, while the establishment folks may view Bush as a moderate (or, to hardcore conservatives, a moderate "squish"), plenty of FL residents can disabuse them of that notion. Bush talks well and is savvy about presenting himself in a way that may have broader appeal than, say, a Cruz type. And his immigration and Common Core stances are more in the middle. But make no mistake: he is absolutely a conservative and his gentler rhetoric shouldn't be mistaken for different policies. Just look at some of his education "innovations," or Terri Schiavo, to name a couple of examples.
He may have deftly played a long game in giving the RPOF an entrenched position in FL, but presidential year voter demographics combined with the rapidly changing makeup of FL's population work heavily against him - as both McCain and Romney discovered.
And while our "esteemed" gov, Rick Scott, may have squeaked out a reelection win (in an outrageously expensive and negative race against a weak candidate), he is viewed negatively enough that Bush may find himself forced to increase distance, even if Scott is Bush's own governor and the state head of his own party.
He may have deftly played a long game in giving the RPOF an entrenched position in FL, but presidential year voter demographics combined with the rapidly changing makeup of FL's population work heavily against him - as both McCain and Romney discovered.
And while our "esteemed" gov, Rick Scott, may have squeaked out a reelection win (in an outrageously expensive and negative race against a weak candidate), he is viewed negatively enough that Bush may find himself forced to increase distance, even if Scott is Bush's own governor and the state head of his own party.
7
There is no doubt the Republicans are stupid enough to nominate Jeb Bush. The real question is: Are the American people stupid enough to allow another Bush in the White House?
5
Or at least a half-vast effort.
2
Bush is clearly the only Republican with the chance of challenging Hillary... -No doubt they will nominate him
1
If Jeb continues to preach open borders he will not only not win in Florida, he will not win a single primary. The candidate who pledges to seal the border and begin the expeditious return of the illegal aliens will win the primaries and the election. We are tried of politicians who invite foreigners to mosey across our southern borders and help themselves to our stuff. It has to stop.
1
Which borders did your ancestors come across? The Bering Strait?
4
I'm completely disgusted by the GOP. As if it wasn't enough George W Bush dragged this nation down so horrendously, now they're proposing his brother runs?
Are they mad? They really think we could bear another Bush at the helm?
Are they mad? They really think we could bear another Bush at the helm?
8
Florida has a great deal of egg on its face from various corrupt actions. Here's the latest.
Now exactly how will Jeb deal with that?
Speaking of "safe spaces" apparently Governor Crist thinks he can make Florida safe from reality. In Russia they sent dissenters to the Gulag: What would JB do?
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/18/florida-suspends-employee-for-sa...
"Florida Suspends Employee For Saying ‘Climate Change,’ Orders Psych Evaluation Before He Can Return
"After news broke that Florida’s Republican governor Rick Scott’s administration had forbid state employees from using the phrase “climate change” during official business, many conservatives claimed that people were overreacting. After all, they reasoned, Rick Scott wouldn’t seriously punish scientists for talking about climate change.
"Oh yes, he would."
"a Land Management Plan Coordinator ... suspended without pay for mentioning in his notes that climate change was discussed at an environmental meeting. His “Official Written Reprimand” cites things like “insubordination” and “conduct unbecoming a public employee.”"
"Later the letter asks Bibler to hereby abstain from inserting “any personal agenda or political advocacy into the work you perform” and to “remain unbiased and impartial, and focused on the issues at hand.”"
Now exactly how will Jeb deal with that?
Speaking of "safe spaces" apparently Governor Crist thinks he can make Florida safe from reality. In Russia they sent dissenters to the Gulag: What would JB do?
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/18/florida-suspends-employee-for-sa...
"Florida Suspends Employee For Saying ‘Climate Change,’ Orders Psych Evaluation Before He Can Return
"After news broke that Florida’s Republican governor Rick Scott’s administration had forbid state employees from using the phrase “climate change” during official business, many conservatives claimed that people were overreacting. After all, they reasoned, Rick Scott wouldn’t seriously punish scientists for talking about climate change.
"Oh yes, he would."
"a Land Management Plan Coordinator ... suspended without pay for mentioning in his notes that climate change was discussed at an environmental meeting. His “Official Written Reprimand” cites things like “insubordination” and “conduct unbecoming a public employee.”"
"Later the letter asks Bibler to hereby abstain from inserting “any personal agenda or political advocacy into the work you perform” and to “remain unbiased and impartial, and focused on the issues at hand.”"
4
Not sure how this corruption. Stifling an employee's speech is not corruption. Oh yea..I forgot us man-made climate change deniers are flat-earthers and should be burned at the stake.
1
This portion is probably the most notable of the article.
"Even as Republicans control every level of state government, they cannot control the increasing Democratic tinge of important groups of voters, including younger Cuban-Americans and the tens of thousands of people of Puerto Rican descent who have flocked to Orlando and other parts of central Florida in recent years."
If the latino people declare Marco Rubio to be a latino of good moral character and Marco Rubio dilutes repugnent republican views, I think the world is going to be shocked at how unified the latino community can be, and subsequently powerfully supportive around a candidate they want.
"Even as Republicans control every level of state government, they cannot control the increasing Democratic tinge of important groups of voters, including younger Cuban-Americans and the tens of thousands of people of Puerto Rican descent who have flocked to Orlando and other parts of central Florida in recent years."
If the latino people declare Marco Rubio to be a latino of good moral character and Marco Rubio dilutes repugnent republican views, I think the world is going to be shocked at how unified the latino community can be, and subsequently powerfully supportive around a candidate they want.
1
he keeps forgetting one important little thing. no one in the base wants him.
4
Jeb Bush will never be elected President. He should not even try. Hillary should not be elected either although she might be merely because she is a woman and it would another first. We need someone new in the White House. Someone who will take their oath of office to uphold our laws seriously, have some executive experience, new ideas, be able to work with the opposition and be younger than 60 years old when sworn in.
2
I'm laughing , this is the state that had his brother win the presidential election. This is another attemp to fool us, the citizens, into thinking that he won't make it. He will be president., because of money, everyone has to be paid, and the payments are on the way. 25 billion in road work, and more to follow.
So keep him in the headlines, he will WIN.
So keep him in the headlines, he will WIN.
2
Like some other states' governors, FL governors have pretty good power
That gives them the nearest thing to Presidential training
FL is less urban than CA, IL, NJ, NY or OH, but is still no overlookable polity
FL's population has been the growingest of all
As a result, FL has a nice allotment of electoral votes.
Which dynast most rates being President? Whose turn is it now? Hillary's or Jeb's?
That gives them the nearest thing to Presidential training
FL is less urban than CA, IL, NJ, NY or OH, but is still no overlookable polity
FL's population has been the growingest of all
As a result, FL has a nice allotment of electoral votes.
Which dynast most rates being President? Whose turn is it now? Hillary's or Jeb's?
2
I'm sure Bush can get Scott steal Florida for him just like Jeb did for W by illegally purging Democratic voter rolls.
That outrage should not be forgotten by the press.
That outrage should not be forgotten by the press.
13
This is a continuation of the Rove/Ailes/Norquist operation that built the Texas operation using W as their target. It's a movie we have seen before that has become the norm in elections today. The acceptance of the American people to the buying and selling of our Democracy is appalling. We are no longer "We The People", more like bystanders binge watching a documentary on the destruction of Democracy tracking politicians as they go diving for dollars, flip flopping policies state by state, with trainers, coaches, stylist, hand picked "reporters". Billionares holding auditions for the lead role in their block-buster, long running series. One day we will take our country back, by-pass the money changers, open a path to rebalance our system.
17
Neither Bush, nor Rubio will carry Florida. Rubio lied about his position on amnesty and Jeb is the Father of Common Core, which Floridians hate and know he profits from.
What is the Bush campaign smoking? We are a tea party state. NOT ONE GOP leadership member in Florida supports Jeb Bush. The straw polls are going to Scott Walker in Florida.
What is the Bush campaign smoking? We are a tea party state. NOT ONE GOP leadership member in Florida supports Jeb Bush. The straw polls are going to Scott Walker in Florida.
1
Terrific. Keep pulling the rug on your own people. Sorry to tell you but the tea party is unelectable.
6
"Plots vast Effort..."
Wow! I see where much is made about a 'changing' Florida... but Bush was a very successful Governor of Florida for two terms. This article is laughable. if one wants to find where 'Plotting' is going on... check with hillery
Wow! I see where much is made about a 'changing' Florida... but Bush was a very successful Governor of Florida for two terms. This article is laughable. if one wants to find where 'Plotting' is going on... check with hillery
2
Florida is "a state that has vexed his party and family in national elections?"
Florida has "vexed" the Bush family in national elections? Not that I recall.
Bush's brother won Florida both times he ran, and his father won it the only time he ran. Obviously Florida "vexed" Jeb himself in a state election, but never in a national election. Hard to imagine Bush would lose Florida in 2016.
Florida has "vexed" the Bush family in national elections? Not that I recall.
Bush's brother won Florida both times he ran, and his father won it the only time he ran. Obviously Florida "vexed" Jeb himself in a state election, but never in a national election. Hard to imagine Bush would lose Florida in 2016.
Thinker, GWB did not 'win' Florida in 2000.
He was appointed the winner after one of the greatest voter suppression and voter fraud incidents in American history.
He was appointed the winner after one of the greatest voter suppression and voter fraud incidents in American history.
12
Socrates,
I'm well aware of that. But if a "Texas Bush" can win Florida, fairly or not, a "Florida" Bush certainly can. Like Jeb or not, he'll win Florida, and probably Ohio (especially if he picks Ohio Governor Kasich as his running mate). Those two swing states plus the usual Republican states -- hard to see how Jeb could lose.
I'm well aware of that. But if a "Texas Bush" can win Florida, fairly or not, a "Florida" Bush certainly can. Like Jeb or not, he'll win Florida, and probably Ohio (especially if he picks Ohio Governor Kasich as his running mate). Those two swing states plus the usual Republican states -- hard to see how Jeb could lose.
1
Very interesting comments, all written by Bush staff, I would suspect. The GOP leadership in Florida just held a straw poll and Jeb Bush was not the winner, nor was Marco Rubio.
Scott Walker is winning straw polls in Florida. Yet the media are doing everything in their collective power to convince America that Jeb Bush is a clear favorite when NOTHING could be further than the truth......interesting.
Scott Walker is winning straw polls in Florida. Yet the media are doing everything in their collective power to convince America that Jeb Bush is a clear favorite when NOTHING could be further than the truth......interesting.
6
No more or less interesting than the results of a straw poll.
1
Will no one rid us of this turbulent politician?
2
Florida's presidential four have one thing in common Global Warming denial. They all know Florida's sea rise driven by warming intimately. Rather than stand with the people of Florida and demand action to mitigate climate change they try to sweep it under the rug, and a very wet rug it has become.
The Republican Party's denial is no less than pandered for fossil fuel industry campaign dollars at the expense of Florida's future which even now at high tides has begun to flood. Of course, if you throw enough media at the people of Florida they might help elect a president that will do for America what these guys have done for Florida.
Of course, here in California we are in a historic drought, after the warmest year on record-a full 2 degrees warmer, snow pack that provides 30% of our water at 13%, 2nd lowest in history. America's most productive agricultural valleys forced to fallow 1 million acres. California has one more year of water left in storage and we can thank 30 years of Republican denial for it. Hundreds of private wells going dry and these four global warming deniers want to be president.
The Republican Party's denial is no less than pandered for fossil fuel industry campaign dollars at the expense of Florida's future which even now at high tides has begun to flood. Of course, if you throw enough media at the people of Florida they might help elect a president that will do for America what these guys have done for Florida.
Of course, here in California we are in a historic drought, after the warmest year on record-a full 2 degrees warmer, snow pack that provides 30% of our water at 13%, 2nd lowest in history. America's most productive agricultural valleys forced to fallow 1 million acres. California has one more year of water left in storage and we can thank 30 years of Republican denial for it. Hundreds of private wells going dry and these four global warming deniers want to be president.
6
If Republicans are smart they'll decide now that Jeb Bush is the only Republican candidate that has a chance against a Democrat in the next Presidential election. But are Republicans smart? The Moderate Republicans keep sitting on the sidelines as the fringe, loud mouth minority among them keep performing as clowns for the nation. The best place for Moderate Republicans to forcefully take charge is the Congress but so far the Republicans are still letting the Radicals among them control their spiraling downward destiny.
8
Leadership Like Charity Begins At Home
Jeb Bush's "muscular" efforts within his home state as a former two term governor evidences two very troubling thing; first, Mr. Bush's reliance on "good ole boy" arm twisting instead his track record as Governor. Second, his increasingly obvious connection and co-option by large money donors.
If Mr. Bush's political operatives cannot rely on his two term record as the chief executive officer of Florida to provide him with a solid base of support, how can spending millions and intimidation be a substitute? The majority of the Jeb Bush's campaign's efforts are focused on the Republican primary, and that underscores another fatal flaw, the palatable distrust of Mr. Bush's primary candidacy by the so called conservative wing of the Republican Party. How can Mr. Bush credible convince voters he is the best choice for the Presidency of the Republic when his track record as Governor generally and his standing within his own party is questionable?
The demographic shifts within the electorate and the fact a minority non resident democratic candidate won the state in the last presidential cycle election should have made Jeb Bush think twice about a Presidential bid. But hubris, hereditary presumption and billionaire robber barons can be very effective blinders.
Jeb Bush's "muscular" efforts within his home state as a former two term governor evidences two very troubling thing; first, Mr. Bush's reliance on "good ole boy" arm twisting instead his track record as Governor. Second, his increasingly obvious connection and co-option by large money donors.
If Mr. Bush's political operatives cannot rely on his two term record as the chief executive officer of Florida to provide him with a solid base of support, how can spending millions and intimidation be a substitute? The majority of the Jeb Bush's campaign's efforts are focused on the Republican primary, and that underscores another fatal flaw, the palatable distrust of Mr. Bush's primary candidacy by the so called conservative wing of the Republican Party. How can Mr. Bush credible convince voters he is the best choice for the Presidency of the Republic when his track record as Governor generally and his standing within his own party is questionable?
The demographic shifts within the electorate and the fact a minority non resident democratic candidate won the state in the last presidential cycle election should have made Jeb Bush think twice about a Presidential bid. But hubris, hereditary presumption and billionaire robber barons can be very effective blinders.
3
Buried in today's Washington Post puff piece about Columba Bush was
fleeting reference to the fact that Columba's older sister "married Jeb's
good friend John Schmitz." That's undoubtedly the son of one term
whacko Bircher Congressman and later American Independent Party
presidential candidate John G. Schmitz, and brother of ... Mary Kay
Letourneau.
Maybe the Times, amid it's non-stop fawning "it's a done deal" coverage of Jeb's
inexorable march to the White House, can give us a glowing update of his
quasi-sister in law Mary Kay.
fleeting reference to the fact that Columba's older sister "married Jeb's
good friend John Schmitz." That's undoubtedly the son of one term
whacko Bircher Congressman and later American Independent Party
presidential candidate John G. Schmitz, and brother of ... Mary Kay
Letourneau.
Maybe the Times, amid it's non-stop fawning "it's a done deal" coverage of Jeb's
inexorable march to the White House, can give us a glowing update of his
quasi-sister in law Mary Kay.
5
Fat chance. Brother Neil Bush's publicly admitted sex tourism in Southeast Asia, for example, as well as an equally disturbing array financial, sex, drug and alcohol-related "skeletons" in the Bush family closet have been off limits in the corporate media for decades.
However, if Neil Bush's sordid escapades had been committed by someone named "Clinton" "Obama" or "Carter" they would have been on a 24/7 news cycle for weeks on end and the details would be as familiar to most Americans as "Billy Beer" and Gennifer Flowers were in their day.
However, if Neil Bush's sordid escapades had been committed by someone named "Clinton" "Obama" or "Carter" they would have been on a 24/7 news cycle for weeks on end and the details would be as familiar to most Americans as "Billy Beer" and Gennifer Flowers were in their day.
4
Just what we need another Bush. The second Bush, with the debacle of Florida and the Supreme court in the Republican pocket, changed the world with lies and wars thus making the world a much less safe place. So if Bush were to win we would shortly start up the military industrial campaign and wage war someplace in the world. A sad day for the world.
7
Plotting is exactly correct just as he did for his brother back in 2000 also conspiring,manipulating,bribing,and any number of illegal means to win.Its the republican way.
6
Thank goodness for this article. It has been two, maybe three days since there was a front page piece on Jeb Bush, and I was starting to get antsy. But there he is in the top left corner. Throw in today's Ross Douthat column on Mr. Bush and my weekend just got a lot better!
1
Bush will win Florida with relative ease. Rubio is not ready for prime time and is more a media creation than a substantive force. Bush worked for decades to cultivate a strong network among influential Floridians and that will see him through. Rubio will likely be offered a prominent role in a future Bush administration and if he's smart he'll take it. Bush persuaded Mitt to bow out and it will be ditto with Rubio.
6
"Bush worked for decades to cultivate a strong network among influential Floridians and that will see him through"
Translation: He already bought FL.
Translation: He already bought FL.
2
Vast effort to win your own state. Good, spend away. Pathetic.
1
Jeb Bush trying to play upon his Mexican American wife's heritage and their "brown" kids in Florida presidential politics is the wrong Hispanic strategy in the wrong state. Her heritage would play in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona.
Florida is Cuban Hispanic Lobby central. All of the Hispanic U.S. Senators- Cruz, Menendez and Rubio-, unlike most Hispanic Americans, are white Cuban American males.
The other looming Florida problem is the fact that 70% of the world's limited 3% fresh water is frozen melting ice primarily in the Antarctic, Arctic, Greenland and glaciers that threatens a low lying Florida heavily populated coast.
Florida is Cuban Hispanic Lobby central. All of the Hispanic U.S. Senators- Cruz, Menendez and Rubio-, unlike most Hispanic Americans, are white Cuban American males.
The other looming Florida problem is the fact that 70% of the world's limited 3% fresh water is frozen melting ice primarily in the Antarctic, Arctic, Greenland and glaciers that threatens a low lying Florida heavily populated coast.
3
And Cuban-Americans are "offering," so to speak, diminishing returns for GOP pols here - the younger generation is significantly less conservative than their forebears. (In some ways, Rubio is out of step with his peers, and certainly out of step with Gen. X et al Hispanic voters. But Rubio strikes me as being less substantive than the media might portray....he has ambition, not question, but he doesn't seem like he's the guy to draw millions of Hispanic young voters into the fold, given many of his positions on policy, etc.) Furthermore, Puerto Rican transplants are their children are making up a larger share of the Hispanic/Latino population in Florida, particularly along the all-important I-4 corridor (basically from St. Pete/Tampa through to Orlando and somewhat beyond - a diverse area with a growing population whose voting records tend to be a bellwether for the state as a whole).
1
Job Bush is the walking definition of crony capitalism. When he was governor here in Florida, so many of the state functions were outsourced to private firms, I'm surprised they didn't just put "Sponsored by...." across the capital.
If he becomes president, the corporations would have a field day and a blank check.
If he becomes president, the corporations would have a field day and a blank check.
10
Is this really the best that we can do in the greatest nation on the planet? Bush versus Clinton again 20 years later? With 300,000,000 people in this country you would think we could find ONE other person to run the government.
5
Maybe what needs reevaluation is your "greatest nation" presumption. Maybe you haven't studied all the others.
If Jeb Bush were a Liberal/Progressive/Democratic, would the headline read "Plans" instead of "Plots"?
1
Only jeb bush knows how close he came to a long spell in the penitentiary when he rigged the 2000 election for his brother. Utterly corrupt, slimy and willing to say or do anything to be elected and stay there. Lets hope the primary voters of the republican party see him for the opportunist he is.
8
Jeb Bush may be writing thank you notes and handing out promises if elected, but he will lose because the Republican party plans to privatize Medicare, and the last thing Florida retirees want, both Democrat and Republican, is to be at the mercy of the price-gougers in the healthcare and insurance industry. If Medicare is privatized seniors will pay the same sky-high prices the rest of us pay on the hospital chargemaster, which anyone who has read Stephen Brill's Bitter Pill understands are routinely 600 percent and higher than Medicare. If Republicans win, and Medicare is privatized, more federal tax dollars will be siphoned away from healthcare and into sparkling and sprawling healthcare complexes and mega-million dollar bonuses for executives, while seniors will pay $600 for a procedure that once upon a time under Medicare cost $100. Of course, business will love this privatized "freedom" to profit even more from old age, sickness and misery, but on election day let us hope voters throughout the country, including Florida, send out hundreds of thousands of warning shots at all the Republican turkey buzzards, including Jeb Bush, who want to eat us alive.
9
The time to make sure all the Florida voting machines and voter registration systems are up to par and working is right now! The time to register all voters is NOW! Especially in Dade County! The Bushes know how to manipulate the vote!!
8
I guess with all the caging lists in place, faulty voting machines installed, precinct changes, draconian last minute election law changes, delays, lines, and whatnot, he will be very ready.
17
Indeed, and he learned from the mistakes he made in the 2000 election, so his team will be ready to use a heck of a lot more smoke and mirrors to obfuscate from the fact that GW Bush stole the election in 2000, pure and simple. I wonder how many media outlets will remind American voters - in particular Floridians - of the lengths the Bush operatives went to in 2000 to ensure a Bush presidency.
2
But everything was ok when Obama won FL in 2008 & 2012, right?
1
"Jeb Bush’s Team Plots Vast Effort to STEAL Florida"
There, that's more like it.
There, that's more like it.
22
Every re-count, and there were plenty by the Democrats, had Bush winning Florida. Why do you persist? As I recall Gore requested a limited recount because he thought he would win in the districts he selected. he was wrong. Gore fooled everyone and went on the "earn" over $100 million after he left office.
1
Except the recount that included ever vote.
2
"'Jeb has taken the trouble to nurture these relationships,' said John McKager Stipanovich, a prominent Republican lobbyist in Tallahassee who receives a personal message from Mr. Bush every Nov. 26."
--------------------------------------------
...but has not taken the "trouble" to nurture even a shred of a relationship with the voter who has trouble paying medical bills, or the voter who unexpectedly finds himself caring for an aging parent and thus can't manage student loans, or the voter who just got pink-slipped without warning.
Nope. No room for looking out for non-wealthy, non-lobbying voters and their interests. After all, lobbyists have birthdays that must be acknowledged. You know, priorities and all.
--------------------------------------------
...but has not taken the "trouble" to nurture even a shred of a relationship with the voter who has trouble paying medical bills, or the voter who unexpectedly finds himself caring for an aging parent and thus can't manage student loans, or the voter who just got pink-slipped without warning.
Nope. No room for looking out for non-wealthy, non-lobbying voters and their interests. After all, lobbyists have birthdays that must be acknowledged. You know, priorities and all.
31
Any lobbyist who feels that Bush cares about him because he sent a birthday email should have his head examined.
It's just like the guy who romances a woman, swearing all out love, but who is really in it for the money.
It's just like the guy who romances a woman, swearing all out love, but who is really in it for the money.
2
Wow, imagine that, a Bush having to win Florida to gain the White House. It's deja-vu all over again!
21
As a Florida resident, I can certainly attest to the fact that it will, indeed, take a "Vast effort" for Jeb to win Florida. Decimation of the public schools, zero investment in public transit and infrastructure, Terri Schiavo fiasco, Bush v. Gore election shenanigans and signing the very first "Stand Your Ground" Gun Law into effect are Jeb's legacy in the Sunshine State.
And Marco Rubio?!! You've got to be kidding! It would take much more than a "Vast Effort" to make this uber-connected intellectual featherweight presidential material.....he will likely lose his senate seat in 2016 since he "represents " a state with the largest number of seniors yet is a champion of dismantling Social Security, Medicare, etc.....
And Marco Rubio?!! You've got to be kidding! It would take much more than a "Vast Effort" to make this uber-connected intellectual featherweight presidential material.....he will likely lose his senate seat in 2016 since he "represents " a state with the largest number of seniors yet is a champion of dismantling Social Security, Medicare, etc.....
22
Perhaps Gov. Scott can appoint Paul Wolfowitz to be Florida's Secretary of State.
7
Questions:
1. If Marco Rubio runs for president, could he primary in Florida for his senate seat and president at the same time?
2. What are Florida polls showing about a Bush vs. Rubio primary? Bush obviously is winning the Florida money and establishment primary.
3. Have Florida Republicans recently voted in primaries against the wishes of Florida's GOP's big donors and its leaders?
4. A Florida primary loss would end the Bush campaign. Would a Florida primary win make him the party's nominee?
5. Would Scott Walker put much of an effort into the Florida primary against Bush and/or Rubio? Why or Why not?
6. How concerned are voters in presidential elections that a young Marco Rubio is not ready to be president because he has no executive experience?
7. Are Florida primary voters more concerned about Rubio's inexperience or Bush's "dynasty"?
8. If Florida GOP money and political leaders are supporting Bush over Rubio, will their peers in the rest of the country follow?
9. What does Bush have to do to win younger GOP and independent voters? What can he do without losing his base?
1. If Marco Rubio runs for president, could he primary in Florida for his senate seat and president at the same time?
2. What are Florida polls showing about a Bush vs. Rubio primary? Bush obviously is winning the Florida money and establishment primary.
3. Have Florida Republicans recently voted in primaries against the wishes of Florida's GOP's big donors and its leaders?
4. A Florida primary loss would end the Bush campaign. Would a Florida primary win make him the party's nominee?
5. Would Scott Walker put much of an effort into the Florida primary against Bush and/or Rubio? Why or Why not?
6. How concerned are voters in presidential elections that a young Marco Rubio is not ready to be president because he has no executive experience?
7. Are Florida primary voters more concerned about Rubio's inexperience or Bush's "dynasty"?
8. If Florida GOP money and political leaders are supporting Bush over Rubio, will their peers in the rest of the country follow?
9. What does Bush have to do to win younger GOP and independent voters? What can he do without losing his base?
2
Why does Jebediah want to be president? Do we really know? When his brother George ran it seemed to be a complex father-son dynamic. With Obama I'm still trying to figure it out the why!
1
bush 16? Never gonna happen. America, although of low intelligence overall, does not yet suffer from collective Alzheimer's. We have not forgotten the disastrous, chicken-hawk, war mongering failure aka known as "mission accomplished ". Nor have we forgotten the failed economic "trickle down" policy which has decimated the middle class. Reagan is dead, and bush is painting watercolors on a farm somewhere.
No, I believe the vast majority of Americans appreciate the successes we've experienced under Barack Obama. We need, and will have, a liberal democrat that can stand up to the lies perpetrated by the koch brothers, and the other minions waging class warfare on behalf of the republican 1%. There will be no "jeb bush" in our White House. We are done with ignorant, selfish regressives. In fact, if we look back on American history (which is the exact opposite of Fox News revisionist "history"), we see every successful altruistic policy ever enacted in favor of American citizens ( Medicare, Medicaid, 40 hr workweek, voter rights, women's right, disabled person rights, affordable healthcare etc, etc.) brought forth by a PROGRESSIVE (I.e. liberal, not conservative) agenda. The Republican Party represents science deniers, climate change deniers, endless petrochemical wars, and more wealth consolidation for the 1%. This agenda is out of line with 99% of the world's true needs.
No, I believe the vast majority of Americans appreciate the successes we've experienced under Barack Obama. We need, and will have, a liberal democrat that can stand up to the lies perpetrated by the koch brothers, and the other minions waging class warfare on behalf of the republican 1%. There will be no "jeb bush" in our White House. We are done with ignorant, selfish regressives. In fact, if we look back on American history (which is the exact opposite of Fox News revisionist "history"), we see every successful altruistic policy ever enacted in favor of American citizens ( Medicare, Medicaid, 40 hr workweek, voter rights, women's right, disabled person rights, affordable healthcare etc, etc.) brought forth by a PROGRESSIVE (I.e. liberal, not conservative) agenda. The Republican Party represents science deniers, climate change deniers, endless petrochemical wars, and more wealth consolidation for the 1%. This agenda is out of line with 99% of the world's true needs.
21
I can only hope and pray that your assertions about the American voter and their memory are correct...it would otherwise have disastrous consequences which this nation cannot afford. Indeed, it cannot afford another Bush (or wacky GOP), it's bad enough they rule Congress (and that's where you can see how well they know or care to govern...)
1
I agree with your whole comment except for the "never gonna happen" part.
1
"Voter purging". Not talking about "voter purging" with the Bush's, is like not talking about cocaine with the Bush's. -Rolling Stones-, "Florida GOP Takes Voter Suppression to a Brazen New Extreme", 5/30/12. Thanks for nothing Supreme Court when you gutted voting regulations.
28
And in other news, Ted "Green Eggs" Cruz will announce that he will be driving the 2016 clown car.
Effectively, Bush and Cruz form two ends of a rather cynical strategy. The latter candidate (or, candidates, as I'm sure there'll be similar others riding along) serves to two purposes: a) to sow the party's incurious grassroots with more confusion than a man has a right to; and, b) to make the GOP's so-called "serious" candidates appear more sane and safe by contrast.
It almost worked in 2012, with the likes of Santorum and Gingrich preaching gawd-gosh-golly and moon colonies while Romney soft-peddled 47 Percentism.
Of course Green Eggs has sized up his campaign piggy bank and has likely divined more in potential contributions to finance an unlikely but nevertheless mad idea that he could lead the most powerful nation on earth. (And that foreign governments will be OK with a Cruz residency at 1600 Pennsylvania.) Doubtless his coffers will be bursting with millions, but hey, look at the bright side: 'does wonders for the country's GDP!
And it's all about the dark money: oligarchs pushing to further infantilize what remains of adult government, effectively stoking the confusion by allowing the GOP's inner oaf to express itself (ahem) "freely" to its aforementioned base that stops at nothing to accept any fool idea - just as long as it's a Republican (em, ALEC) idea.
How did America arrive at its politically kleptocratic station again? Something about uniting citizens?
Effectively, Bush and Cruz form two ends of a rather cynical strategy. The latter candidate (or, candidates, as I'm sure there'll be similar others riding along) serves to two purposes: a) to sow the party's incurious grassroots with more confusion than a man has a right to; and, b) to make the GOP's so-called "serious" candidates appear more sane and safe by contrast.
It almost worked in 2012, with the likes of Santorum and Gingrich preaching gawd-gosh-golly and moon colonies while Romney soft-peddled 47 Percentism.
Of course Green Eggs has sized up his campaign piggy bank and has likely divined more in potential contributions to finance an unlikely but nevertheless mad idea that he could lead the most powerful nation on earth. (And that foreign governments will be OK with a Cruz residency at 1600 Pennsylvania.) Doubtless his coffers will be bursting with millions, but hey, look at the bright side: 'does wonders for the country's GDP!
And it's all about the dark money: oligarchs pushing to further infantilize what remains of adult government, effectively stoking the confusion by allowing the GOP's inner oaf to express itself (ahem) "freely" to its aforementioned base that stops at nothing to accept any fool idea - just as long as it's a Republican (em, ALEC) idea.
How did America arrive at its politically kleptocratic station again? Something about uniting citizens?
21
Hey Jeb we don't need your plots or manipulation or your apparatus for such! In fact, the last thing this country needs is You!
10
Mr. Barbaro seems not to be aware that Alex Villalobos is about the last Republican who would support Jeb Bush, given the characteristically Jeb vengeance he faced when he opposed Jeb's programs and ran for re-election in 2006.
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/best-of/2007/people-and-places/best-politic...
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/best-of/2007/people-and-places/best-politic...
3
Neither Bush or Rubio will be president. Rubio does not have any achievements as a politician and Hispanics other then the old time Batista Cubans can be counted on. There will never be another Bush and the people of this country will not forget the last one in the White House.
16
GTom, I hope you are right! One would think we have dynasties in the US: The Bushes, the Clintons, etal.
Where are the new faces?
Where are the new faces?
No more Bushes or Clintons in white House.
3
No climate change denier has the slightest hope of being President.
13
The recycled Romney "team" Bush is putting on the field inspires zero confidence.
9
I voted for Obama twice.....fooled twice I guess. Obama is owned by the arrogant Ivy League neocons. There is a lot not to like about Bush but one has to note that he broke away from the Andover/Ivy League track and went to University in Texas. He studied Latin America. One hopes he understands the demographic future of the US.....and that alone makes him a better candidate than Hillary. If it is Bush vs. Clinton I'll be voting for Don Arbusto.
1
I will never vote for a Bush, Clinton, or Obama ever, ever again. Total disasters ... all of them.
Yeah, all that peace and prosperity in the the nineties sure did suck. And boy was it ever awful having a federal budget surplus at the end of the Clinton years.
Please.
Please.
1
The Jeb Bush team. That would be the ALEC/Koch brothers/Sheldon Adleson/Wall Street/radical religious right/nra/major media corporate conglomerate. The Koch brothers alone have promised to spend almost $9 Billion dollars to further buy our government and Sheldon Adelson just bought Israel. Make no mistake, America, BIG money owns our government right now. However, all BIG money is not equal. My money is on the Warren Buffett, Bill Gates democracy-loving money that supports Hillary Rodham Clinton - not the democracy destroying corporate conglomerate democracy destroyers who have been pulling a 40+ year financial coup to destroy OUR government, siphon off the money and make us think our votes don't count. OUR votes are ALL that counst because that's all money can buy. Let's send all the corporate conglomerate BIG money operatives home in the next elections and take back the America we love. Here's some eye-opening reading for those who haven't seen it.
http://billmoyers.com/spotlight/eye-on-alec/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weyrichhttp://www.theguardian.com/worl...
http://billmoyers.com/spotlight/eye-on-alec/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Weyrichhttp://www.theguardian.com/worl...
14
The only reason Republican Rick Scott is governor is that a lot of people in Broward County, a large Democratic vote filled bedrock, had no interest in voting in a midterm. That certainly won't happen in a presidential election. Moreover, the changing demographics in Florida are going to cause much more of a problem than Bush may realize. A lot of people are moving here, and most of them are Democrats. Finally, even before the radically changed demographics, Bush couldn't even deliver a decisive victory for his own brother.
21
If I were Bush, and as a general suggestion to Florida "Climate Change" Republicans, I would take my money and by flood insurance. He isn't likely to be president, he will never overcome his co candidate, George W Bush, who will accompany him at every whistle stop.
7
In so many words he is going to use big money to buy his way in, enough said.
7
If JEB has to "Plot a Vast Effort to Win Florida", after having won it several times at more than one level in the past, he'll have almost impossible challenges when he gets out of his home state. He's a really fine gentleman, but the Republican Party needs a new vision of new leadership strength if they have any real hope of winning the presidency.
8
No big deal just get Katherine Harris to ber Secretary of State of Florida. Its a done deal then.
4
With the main fact being that politicians have to plot a run at President by ruining their competition, there can be no more discussion.
Who among them is running FRO something instead fo against something/someone.
Not cruz, Not bush ....and the list will get longer.
Who among them is running FRO something instead fo against something/someone.
Not cruz, Not bush ....and the list will get longer.
4
Kind of a funny article. I live in Florida. Dems got messed with like most states in the 2010 reapportionment. Florida is 41% registered Dems versus 36% Repubs. Rubio lost the Hispanic vote in his 2010 election and will lose it more in 2016 and may lose his seat. The Governor race is on off presidential years and Scott just skated by. There are probably 2.5 million more then when Bush last got elected. His name is Bush.... I don't think any Repub can win Florida, especially against Hillary.
10
I would like to know the cabinet that would be appointed by a hypothetical Bush#3. It would be terrififying if W's "brain-less" trust were resurrected, or if they lurked in White House shadows.
The GOP's "world police" viewpoint is sapping our nation's strength. Their appetite for undeclared wars is unending. Save us from more of the same.....
The GOP's "world police" viewpoint is sapping our nation's strength. Their appetite for undeclared wars is unending. Save us from more of the same.....
6
Eventhough he has no chance of winning.
2
The fact that he has to win this state is demonstrative of how weak his campaign is.
5
Having lived in Florida during Mr. Bush's service as governor, I can tell you that it will take much more to win the state than his current "muscular" charm offensive. In the pocket of big sugar, we watched him systematically destroy the environment (not as terrible as Scott, but a worthy predecessor). He eviscerated the already putrid educational system, fought continiously and contentiously againt women's and LGBT rights and, for all intents and purposes, dismantled what passes laughably as health and human services in the Sunshine State. He presents as a centrist, affable conservative - but he is not. Florida has always deserved better and God help the country if we must endure yet another Bush.
12
Quick: Name one original policy prescription Jeb Bush has offered. Couldn't do it could you? Jeb Bush has never had an original idea in his entire life. He is a celebrity spokesmodel, nothing more.
13
As compared to...?
Here we go again, 2 years of utterly vacuous, duplicitous campaigning from a Clinton and a Bush that ends up revolving around who wins Florida.
The American political system is not just stsgnant, it no lo her functions in a way that has to do with the best interests of the people or that has to do with any real issues of note. Its the oligarchs of the two parties squarng off over who gets the most bank donations etc
We can safely tune out 2016 now.
The American political system is not just stsgnant, it no lo her functions in a way that has to do with the best interests of the people or that has to do with any real issues of note. Its the oligarchs of the two parties squarng off over who gets the most bank donations etc
We can safely tune out 2016 now.
4
In other words, Jeb Bush tries to get the best election money can buy. Is that anything new?
4
i guess it might raise an eyebrow or two should antonin scalia stop the vote count once it appears the democrat is winning....
6
I'd like to see how Pope Francis and other Church officials respond to Jeb running as a Catholic while being an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty. John Kerry took a lot of heat for backing abortion rights against the Church platform, so Jeb Bush should be treated to the same for capitol punishment.
6
As a Floridian and survivor of JEB's governorship, this 17 year "influence" from his time in Tallahassee has been a steady decline in the presence of reason, statesmanship and intellectual acuity in our state leadership, not to mention an uplift of public official criminality. His comfort with bullying, manipulating and grabbing power set our great state on a path to being the joke of the nation when elections are held. He has set his Republican brothers up to rule every aspect of our lives down here If your want your President forever in your neighborhood, city, bedroom, hospital room, doctor's room, university classroom and voting booth, he's your man. The smell from his time as Governor is appalling.
127
A Bush plotting? Imagine that.
5
Jeb mysteriously accomplished so much with just a phone call when Gore seemed to be winning. 20 minutes later, the whole thing was turned around. Surely he can be just as effective now.
5
Obama's victory in '12 and the methods he used to win aren't lost on the smart political operatives from both parties. In FL in '12 Obama's team knew they needed another 200,000 votes to win. What did they do? They found 200,000 new voters, registered them, and got them to the polls.
What was their FL margin of victory? 200,000, more or less. That's how exact a science it can be. Don't forget that Obama kept his teams on the ground during his first four years of office. This is how it's done in modern elections.
What Jeb is doing in FL is smart politics, and makes him a man to be feared even more. His work in FL now is going to have a huge impact on the '16 election.
He will be the Republican nominee. The money says so.
While I am not resigned to the fact that he's gonna win in '16, he's starting to look like a pretty good bet.
A Rovian handler will package him as a compassionate conservative, and he'll be a good campaigner, sticking to the message.
Whomever the Dems nominate is going to be up against it. And sorry, but just because you have a bunch of old Clinton hands running her campaign doesn't necessarily spell victory. She couldn't beat Obama in '08. Why? Paid no attention to the delegates from the caucus states. What was his margin of victory at the convention? The delegates he won in the caucus states.
So Hillary's track record ain't good.
This is gonna be a dogfight. The party with the best ground game will win.
What was their FL margin of victory? 200,000, more or less. That's how exact a science it can be. Don't forget that Obama kept his teams on the ground during his first four years of office. This is how it's done in modern elections.
What Jeb is doing in FL is smart politics, and makes him a man to be feared even more. His work in FL now is going to have a huge impact on the '16 election.
He will be the Republican nominee. The money says so.
While I am not resigned to the fact that he's gonna win in '16, he's starting to look like a pretty good bet.
A Rovian handler will package him as a compassionate conservative, and he'll be a good campaigner, sticking to the message.
Whomever the Dems nominate is going to be up against it. And sorry, but just because you have a bunch of old Clinton hands running her campaign doesn't necessarily spell victory. She couldn't beat Obama in '08. Why? Paid no attention to the delegates from the caucus states. What was his margin of victory at the convention? The delegates he won in the caucus states.
So Hillary's track record ain't good.
This is gonna be a dogfight. The party with the best ground game will win.
5
Perhaps the reason we have such candidates -- scions, retreads, fatheads and crazies -- is that we expect elected leaders to be super-clean, super-human, perfect people who share their marriages, tax records, personal correspondence and all but parade naked on the mall, while the oppos and media snipe at them.
And yet, despite this tedious scrutiny, American politics results in a government that no longer serves the needs of the people or the nation, where corporations are people and money is speech. I despair.
And yet, despite this tedious scrutiny, American politics results in a government that no longer serves the needs of the people or the nation, where corporations are people and money is speech. I despair.
5
After 8 yrs of the disastrous Bush 42 no more Bushes period! I'd vote for anybody but a lame duck Republican period! I hope Hillary run she will win the White House in '16. Not familiar with Marco Rubin but willing to listen and possibly vote for him!
1
And because Pappy Bush and W were such great presidents, the reasoning must be that Jeb would be too.
We are doomed.....
We are doomed.....
16
GHW Bush 14% unemployment, W crash, and, with the Dow at 18K, Jeb risks another crash. If he goes into Iran, it's a crash. If the GOP congress under Bush dismembers government to support defense, it's a crash. Savvy Republican businessmen might want to take notice.
Please, Florida, keep Jeb Bush in Florida. One more president from the same family and the founding fathers will be turning over in their graves. They fought to liberate the US from the tyranny of a monarchy. Don't take a giant step backward.
4
It appears that Mr. (Jeb) Bush is saying all the 'right' things in order to get the GOP nomination, as well as amassing mountains of monetary support. However, if he is the nominee - will have numerous issues to overcome in a general election. It won't be enough to have a Spanish speaking wife. Presidential elections have become increasingly more difficult since Bush last ran a campaign. Things such as climate change, abortion, raising the minimum wage, gay rights, etc., he won't be able to dodge in a 2016 general election.
4
Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton.
I feel like I'm walking with Francis McDormand down that bad buffet line in "Fargo."
I feel like I'm walking with Francis McDormand down that bad buffet line in "Fargo."
3
What's most interesting about this article is its exposure of the closed circuit among politicians and lobbyists. Once elected and subsequently unelected, politicians join the vast (and well-paid!) group of lobbyists (posing as law firms or consulting firms) or corporate boards.
The money and security are enough of an impetus to take one's oath of office to serve the voters and Constitutions (state and federal) with a heavy dose of salts--to put it mildly, to whore out that oath of office to the highest bidder.
This small group of people basically determines policy to the exclusion of most voters. With gerrymandered districts and suppression of African-American votes, not to mention voting on a working day, many Americans have become convinced that voting doesn't matter any more.
The Founding Fathers--and anyone with a scintilla of education and intelligence--would realize that our Constitutional democracy has foundered.
The money and security are enough of an impetus to take one's oath of office to serve the voters and Constitutions (state and federal) with a heavy dose of salts--to put it mildly, to whore out that oath of office to the highest bidder.
This small group of people basically determines policy to the exclusion of most voters. With gerrymandered districts and suppression of African-American votes, not to mention voting on a working day, many Americans have become convinced that voting doesn't matter any more.
The Founding Fathers--and anyone with a scintilla of education and intelligence--would realize that our Constitutional democracy has foundered.
5
Terry Shiavo is all you need to know about Jeb Bush!
10
Let's see if Jeb stands by "stand your ground" before a national audience and in the wake of Mr. Martin's senseless killing.
5
In a state that chooses leaders like Former Gov. Jeb Bush and now Gov. Rick Scott in spite of their association with companies fined for massive Medicare fraud (Tenet Healthcare and Columbia HCA in the 1990s), I fully expect the GOP to win in Florida. That is unless voter turn-out improves.
5
Florida and the 'Hanging Chads' will forever remind the people of this country, and especially those in Florida of the unmitigated eight year disaster they unleashed upon the United States. Before 'Bush the shorter' the deficits were never a Trillion Dollars a year plus, after ' Dumbya', a nickname earned by feet stuffed in his mouth so often it became the only reason to listen to his speeches Massive debt was a given. I would think that, at this point, the last name a Florida voter would want to be linked to would be the name 'Bush'. " The Shrub " probably hopes his brother gets elected just to take some of disgrace he heaped upon his family and share it if not return some respectability. Florida should never allow another Bush to be blamed on them.
12
I thought I just got back from Guatemala. I didn't realize I was still in a banana republic! In Guatemala, they have laws to prevent political dynasties! Is the American public so lazy, that they can't look any further for Presidential candidate's, than the former President's immediate family? I guess since political action committee's run the show, it doesn't matter who they "plug" into the race, because only the message matters. Thanks Supreme Court, I guess they bought you too!
8
I'm guessing the same Padrera/Recarey inmates in the Florida prisons are going to vote en masse for JEB on the promise of instant release for fraud of Medicare and HUD?
20
While climate change is a stark reality where both Rubio and Bush live, and by stark reality I mean Miami-Dade county is already engaged in long term planning to deal with climate change, both of these guys deny that the ocean is rising. So understand, they both live a few miles from a rising ocean and they are both pretending it isn't rising while those around them are working to deal with the problem.
So, seriously, how can either of these guys be considered presidential material?
So, seriously, how can either of these guys be considered presidential material?
309
So how do explain our current president, who has stated many times the sea level is rising, buying beach front property in Hawaii?
1
Jeb and the Bushes are also denying "climate change" by purchasing water rights to large tracts of land in Ecuador to become richer so that when the droughts in Texas from climate change get worse and worse, the family wealth will be safe. Do as I say and not as I do? Total hypocrites!
6
Here, here!! Climate change is already a reality in Miami Beach. One needs only to look at Collins Ave after a heavy rainstorm and witness the flooding. Both of these wannabes deny climate change to satisfy the Republican base outside of FL so they turn a blind eye to our reality.
6
When Jeb was governor of Florida, the citrus industry was worried about citrus canker, a plant disease that was costing citrus farm owners a lot of money. So Jeb declared that any citrus plant within a certain radius of an outbreak should be destroyed. And then he sent state workers all over the state, marching into yards, and destroying people's private property. No hearing, no appeal, nothing - just destroyed. Jeb destroyed lemon and lime trees on my property. He declared that everyone with a destroyed plant should get a $50 Wall-Mart gift card (Jeb likes Wal-Mart).
Common Core. Terry Sciavo. His imperial march into my back yard. I'll never vote for him. Anyone who likes the government out of the classroom, the bedroom, and his or her own back yard should do the same.
Common Core. Terry Sciavo. His imperial march into my back yard. I'll never vote for him. Anyone who likes the government out of the classroom, the bedroom, and his or her own back yard should do the same.
59
Jeb is not that detestable a man, and he was a reasonably popular governor here, but he won't be able to fight the Clintons in 2016.
3
Schiavo.
I believe that covers it.
I believe that covers it.
37
If the democrats were smart the would put on a ballot question to make Cesar Chevez's birthday a state holiday.
Older Cubans in Florida identify themselves as Europeans of Spanish descent and vote Republican. The remaining of Hispanic Americans identify the heritage as from Latin America and the Island of the Caribbean and vote democratic.
What many people do not know is there is a rift between the Cuban and Hispanics from Latin America and the Caribbean islands. The fault line in that rift is Cesar Chavez. The democrats adore him and would like to raise Cesar Chavez to Martin Luther King status. The Republicans including Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon did everything in their power to destroy the man.
If Jeb Bush supported a state holiday for Cesar Chevez it would destroy his chance with Florida Republican. But if he opposed it he would lose the I4 corridor and lose the Presidential election. Florida Democrats need to start collecting signatures.
Older Cubans in Florida identify themselves as Europeans of Spanish descent and vote Republican. The remaining of Hispanic Americans identify the heritage as from Latin America and the Island of the Caribbean and vote democratic.
What many people do not know is there is a rift between the Cuban and Hispanics from Latin America and the Caribbean islands. The fault line in that rift is Cesar Chavez. The democrats adore him and would like to raise Cesar Chavez to Martin Luther King status. The Republicans including Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon did everything in their power to destroy the man.
If Jeb Bush supported a state holiday for Cesar Chevez it would destroy his chance with Florida Republican. But if he opposed it he would lose the I4 corridor and lose the Presidential election. Florida Democrats need to start collecting signatures.
9
Jeb is not going to succeed. His ultra-liberal stance on illegal aliens (mostly from Mexico) will not go down well with the largely conservative Cuban-Americans in Florida.
Jeb's position is amnesty for illegal aliens, he is married to a Mexican lady.
Americans are tired of electing a Bush, carpetbaggers like the Clintons, and control freaks/wannabe king/emperor like Obama.
Jeb's position is amnesty for illegal aliens, he is married to a Mexican lady.
Americans are tired of electing a Bush, carpetbaggers like the Clintons, and control freaks/wannabe king/emperor like Obama.
americans are tired , they are also dumb!
Oh come on! Worthless propaganda. Rick Perry not even mentioned?
5
Why bother? Isn't he still battling legal charges and trying to remember what that other thing was?
3
Forget Oops Perry?
Never sir.
We need another republican guy cheerleader, Perry Texas A & M, just like Reagan, Boy George and Willard Mitty.
Another republican guy cheerleader who dodged going to war, just like Reagan, Boy George, Willard Mitty AND Oops Perry.
Never sir.
We need another republican guy cheerleader, Perry Texas A & M, just like Reagan, Boy George and Willard Mitty.
Another republican guy cheerleader who dodged going to war, just like Reagan, Boy George, Willard Mitty AND Oops Perry.
2
what a weird political system we now have. rather than developing a set of policies and goals that would improve everyday life for people, our candidates spend their time strategising over how best to trick people into voting for them.
isn't it time we demand that politicians actually do something to deserve our votes?
isn't it time we demand that politicians actually do something to deserve our votes?
54
It is hard to imagine what will happen to this country with ANY Republican as President. Along with a Republican Congress and Supreme Court, inequality will rise, the budget will be balanced on the backs of the poor, the middle class will continue to shrink, troops in the Middle East is inevitable (with the exception of Rand Paul), Obamacare will be gutted, our air and water will be given over to the energy industry to pollute, and any effort to stop climate change, already too little and too late, will stop.
Oh yes, and God (the Christian one) will be chosen as Vice President so He can worm His way into our government and schools and lives.
Plus I almost forgot that the NRA will become a cabinet level department in the government. Guns everywhere will become the norm.
Women's abortion rights will practically disappear. (Those sluts!)
There will be more and more outbreaks of once eradicated diseases, as the anti-vax crowd - as irrational a group as ever there was - spreads their illness to more and more gullible parents.
I know, it sounds bad (it is), but maybe Hillary or whoever the Dem nominee is can remind the country, especially Florida, repeatedly and incessantly, how Jeb Bush gave the 2000 election to his incompetent brother.
Some people think the Republican primaries and general election are "entertainment." I think it's scary.
Oh yes, and God (the Christian one) will be chosen as Vice President so He can worm His way into our government and schools and lives.
Plus I almost forgot that the NRA will become a cabinet level department in the government. Guns everywhere will become the norm.
Women's abortion rights will practically disappear. (Those sluts!)
There will be more and more outbreaks of once eradicated diseases, as the anti-vax crowd - as irrational a group as ever there was - spreads their illness to more and more gullible parents.
I know, it sounds bad (it is), but maybe Hillary or whoever the Dem nominee is can remind the country, especially Florida, repeatedly and incessantly, how Jeb Bush gave the 2000 election to his incompetent brother.
Some people think the Republican primaries and general election are "entertainment." I think it's scary.
157
Eric - I couldn' t have said it better myself. These guys are living in a frozen zone where only the rich, the corporations, and their fellow republicans have a say in the future course of our country. They intend to run it with the full throttle of the corporate elite at their backs. Every one in this country should closely follow the issues ahead of us and carefully vote for some one whose eyes are open to the dangers we face on this planet.
6
Apparently many who commented thought the article was about the actual election rather than the GOP primary. It would be highly embarrassing, not to say unlikely, for Mr. Jeb to lose the Florida GOP primary thus the actions discussed in the article which focused on his claiming the GOP power brokers, staff and money before any GOP challenger can.
Mr. Jeb's chances of becoming Bush III by winning Florida in a general election will prove to be worse. Neither women nor "Hispanics" will be impressed by another reluctant and unskilled spouse prone to "entitlement" mistakes dragged into politics by an ambitious husband. Mrs Bush's Mexican heritage may fool GOP donors that the "Hispanic" vote is hers, but the complex make-up of Florida's "Hispanic" voters will not fall in line for a few words in Spanish. There may be eager GOP women who see an introverted person who actually dislikes large crowds as a virtue, but most women expect more from a potential First Lady these days.
After two terms of Rick Scott and what seems like a lifetime of GOP domination of the legislature, independents in Florida will be increasingly difficult to convince any GOP candidate has policies which work much less another (third) Bush. The gerrymandered districts which produce GOP winners at the state level do not apply to national elections. Florida will have a second shot at giving a Bush the White House. This time, I am certain, the result will be different.
Mr. Jeb's chances of becoming Bush III by winning Florida in a general election will prove to be worse. Neither women nor "Hispanics" will be impressed by another reluctant and unskilled spouse prone to "entitlement" mistakes dragged into politics by an ambitious husband. Mrs Bush's Mexican heritage may fool GOP donors that the "Hispanic" vote is hers, but the complex make-up of Florida's "Hispanic" voters will not fall in line for a few words in Spanish. There may be eager GOP women who see an introverted person who actually dislikes large crowds as a virtue, but most women expect more from a potential First Lady these days.
After two terms of Rick Scott and what seems like a lifetime of GOP domination of the legislature, independents in Florida will be increasingly difficult to convince any GOP candidate has policies which work much less another (third) Bush. The gerrymandered districts which produce GOP winners at the state level do not apply to national elections. Florida will have a second shot at giving a Bush the White House. This time, I am certain, the result will be different.
89
They may not be able to run, but they're good at stealing ... votes, our patrimony, the environment, etc. etc.
1
GAG. Anyone see the interview of 8 voters, from Iowa, I think? All (gurp) republicans, all opposed to a Jeb Bush candidacy. The only thing good I can say about it is Hilary will run away with it. NOBODY wants another Bush.
12
Jeb, how about getting another brother elected governor, so he can throw the state election for you, the way you did for George in 2000? Simple, really.
24
Trading on the coat tails of brother George Bush - who launched this nation on the totally unnecessary, and totally harmful Iraq war - a conflict that ultimately spawned ISIS - he calls his campaign plan “Homeland Security"? What an insult to the American People! What nerve!
But, who knows? - perhaps the Republicans are receiving free "Chutzpah" advice from Netanyahu, in return for having let Bibi use the Congress of the United States as a free "event space" during Bibi's recent election campaign.
But, who knows? - perhaps the Republicans are receiving free "Chutzpah" advice from Netanyahu, in return for having let Bibi use the Congress of the United States as a free "event space" during Bibi's recent election campaign.
25
This story about Jeb Bush captures perfectly what is wrong with American politics. These days wining elections is more about soliciting big donors and crowding out one's opponents than it is gaining the support of voters by laying out a positive message about governance. Because money leads to votes, donors have become more important than voters. These political operatives and the politicians for whom they work have been living in a world of their own making for far too long.
213
These days money is everything in politics.
That in itself is why Jeb will win the GOP nomination.
That in itself is why Jeb will win the GOP nomination.
1
Is it possible to find any family in America which possesses as mind-boggling a combination of mediocrity and megalomania as the Bushes?
27
When a president is dangerously stupid, as Dubya was, the result is that you often get a Darth Vader like character controlling the show.
1
America hates Bush, America hates Clinton. These families need to disappear form the political scene. Nothing but bad news for taxpayers.
3
Since when do you speak for "America". While having preferred Obama over Clinton in the 2008 primaries, I would never vote for any of the Republicans who are running, not even for dog catcher.
And voting in a Republican would be indeed very bad news for normal taxpayers, but a bonanza for our poor rich guys.
And voting in a Republican would be indeed very bad news for normal taxpayers, but a bonanza for our poor rich guys.
3
Go away, Jeb. Just go away.....
9
I say the more Republican Presidential candidates the merrier. Liberals/Socialists/progressives will leap to take advantage of the opportunity to denounce them and many of them will threaten to leave the country in the event that any Republicans are elected. Sadly, they rarely make good on these promises, but just hearing them provides the country with a faint ray of hope for the future and the promise of a better day.
2
A casino in every pot. Sheldon adelson for Secretary of State - and Neil bush to head treasury or the consumer financial protection agency.
9
All I can say is that if our choice is Bush or Clinton, then shame on us all.
We are devolving into a democracy like ancient Rome, where the patrician families held all the power, and everyone else was a plebe. In a country of 320 million people, can't we do better than handing the reins of power to members of the same families again and again?
With all the talk of income inequality, we are surely overlooking political inequality as well.
We are devolving into a democracy like ancient Rome, where the patrician families held all the power, and everyone else was a plebe. In a country of 320 million people, can't we do better than handing the reins of power to members of the same families again and again?
With all the talk of income inequality, we are surely overlooking political inequality as well.
10
Florida where Bush gerrymandering and GOP pinata politics have destroyed the state and ended any similarity to democracy. That's the Bush legacy. Bush the property developers best friend. Bush still has yet to deliver his e-mails nearly 10-years since he left office.
17
While there are many people who would like to see ( and/or expect ) a Hillary win in '0-16, it just may be that she no longer has a lock on an assured victory. A steady stream of manufactured scandal or self-created problems may raise enough concerns among voters to change a sure win to a 'maybe'. People want their leaders to 'just get along', and the future image of one-too-many 'on-the-defensive' press conferences like we saw last week may actually prove to be a lot more significant as the election becomes real. And of all the potential Republican choices she could be facing, Jeb seems like the one who would probably be "least-unacceptable" to most Democrats, if that is how things ultimately turn out.
Which should mean that the powers-that-be in the Republican party will do everything they can to nominate someone else.
Which should mean that the powers-that-be in the Republican party will do everything they can to nominate someone else.
Jeb and his wife have quite some scandals as well, and they are indeed self-inflicted through entitlement thinking.
One is Columba Bush's attempt to smuggle $19K of designer frocks through customs after a shopping trip to Europe - and being dumb enough to even try it.
And while her dear hubby insisted that any drug offenders should get mandatory jail time, he did all in his power to give his daughter as pass after trying to purchase drugs with faked prescriptions.
Once he is officially in the game, you can be assured that plenty of little or not so little scandals will follow. Democrats are finally learning to fight the constant dreck thrown mainly at the president and other so-called liberals deserve some answers in kind.
One is Columba Bush's attempt to smuggle $19K of designer frocks through customs after a shopping trip to Europe - and being dumb enough to even try it.
And while her dear hubby insisted that any drug offenders should get mandatory jail time, he did all in his power to give his daughter as pass after trying to purchase drugs with faked prescriptions.
Once he is officially in the game, you can be assured that plenty of little or not so little scandals will follow. Democrats are finally learning to fight the constant dreck thrown mainly at the president and other so-called liberals deserve some answers in kind.
3
Although I have tremendous respect for the Bush family, I think that Jeb's stated goal of "showing Republicans how to win without the base" is quite misguided and won't not bode well in the primaries. I, personally, am looking forward to voting for (alphabetically) Carson, Cruz, Fiorina, Paul, or Walker in my primary, all of whom present a conservative, Constitutional approach to government. And I implore conservative thinkers to always keep foremost in their mind the following quote from Milton Friedman, "I do not believe that the solution to our problem is simply to elect the right people. The important thing is to establish a political climate of opinion which will make it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing. Unless it is politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right thing, the right people will not do the right thing either, or if they try, they will shortly be out of office."
You just love a good war and a great recession huh? Why is that?
5
As long as there aren't too many restrictions on voting, and other right wing voter suppression tactics, HRC stands excellent chance of winning Florida in the general election..
Only the panhandle of Florida is dixie, South Florida is practically the 6th Borough of NYC....Tampa/Orlando are swing areas, but i think they lean slightly Democrat....I guess Jacksonville, Bradenton would probably be Republican areas...But overall, with a good get out the vote operation, it is certainly a state that HRC can win regardless of her opponent is..
Only the panhandle of Florida is dixie, South Florida is practically the 6th Borough of NYC....Tampa/Orlando are swing areas, but i think they lean slightly Democrat....I guess Jacksonville, Bradenton would probably be Republican areas...But overall, with a good get out the vote operation, it is certainly a state that HRC can win regardless of her opponent is..
7
I understand that they are trying to bring back the old voting machines and Katherine Harris.
21
What is behind this obsession with Jeb Bush from the NYT? What is the story - that candidates strategize to win? Are there candidates out there with plans to lose states?
12
This state of Florida won't be a vast bedrock of support for Jeb Bush in his quest for the Presidency. A third Bush Presidency. The winner-take-all-primary won't be till 15 March 2016, and we know what happened to a dynastic Caesar on the Ides of March. A year is an aeon in American politics. Jeb Bush oversaw his brother's strange - and unaccepted by many Americans - bitter victory in Florida in 2000. Marco Rubio, like Jeb, speaks Spanish and is of Cuban descent, though Jeb's wife, Colomba, was Mexican. With the swelling population of hip Latino/Hispanic young voters leaning toward the Democrats - Jeb will have a rough row to hoe to win the Primary a year away. And there is no hope of Jeb embracing such seminal issues facing our country and the world as climate change (he's a denier), evolution (he's a denier), women's rights over their own bodies. Since Ted Cruz ("The Mouth") is throwing his sombrero into the ring tomorrow ("tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow, you're only a day away!"), there will be 3 wannabe Republican Presidential candidates with Latino chops vying for the nod from the RNC. Those 3 caballeros are already pinatas, toast.
13
My, my, I didn't know that Florida had such great political talent:
"Florida is now home to four likely Republican presidential candidates of varying stature and allure: Mr. Bush (who lives in Coral Gables); Mr. Rubio (West Miami); Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and author (West Palm Beach); and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas (Santa Rosa Beach)."
Well, Rubio is a Senator dealing with current international problems. Bush is, uh, exactly what? A Bush. But his brother had no qualifications either and beat an intelligent, experienced war hero (John McCain for you Republicans) in the 2000 primaries thanks to dumb Republican voters.
Jeb will muscle out Rubio the way Rove did with McCain fot W but the illegitimate child shtick has already been taken. The Bush people can't insult Rubio's Cuban heritage, but they'll think of something. Maybe say that Marco Rubio really isn't Cuban, but of Irish descent?
"Florida is now home to four likely Republican presidential candidates of varying stature and allure: Mr. Bush (who lives in Coral Gables); Mr. Rubio (West Miami); Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and author (West Palm Beach); and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas (Santa Rosa Beach)."
Well, Rubio is a Senator dealing with current international problems. Bush is, uh, exactly what? A Bush. But his brother had no qualifications either and beat an intelligent, experienced war hero (John McCain for you Republicans) in the 2000 primaries thanks to dumb Republican voters.
Jeb will muscle out Rubio the way Rove did with McCain fot W but the illegitimate child shtick has already been taken. The Bush people can't insult Rubio's Cuban heritage, but they'll think of something. Maybe say that Marco Rubio really isn't Cuban, but of Irish descent?
6
Clinton will have a very hard time beating either Rubio or Bush in Florida. With their fluent Spanish and ethic ties to the Hispanic community, both of them create serious problems for Hillary in the general election; not only in Florida but other swing states with large Hispanic populations, like Nevada, Colorado and North Carolina. Imagine Rubio or Bush speaking flawless Spanish on Univision or in a debate. It will be unprecedented.
11
If elections really made a difference, they wouldn't let us vote!
Since when have voters had a chance to vote for a true Patriot? Not since Ross Perot, and the voters have paid for that ever since.
The secret PAC's pre-select contenders without virtue that feign patriotism.
Only after the contenders prove themselves as trusted sycophants and prostitute themselves to the pro-illegal alien, pro-H-1b visa, pro-common core banker gangsters of the corporate oligarchy, will the donors support them as candidates.
Virtue and patriotism thus excluded, voters are purposely left with choosing between shades of pre-selected gray at the primaries.
National elections results are moot, when gray is the only outcome.
Since when have voters had a chance to vote for a true Patriot? Not since Ross Perot, and the voters have paid for that ever since.
The secret PAC's pre-select contenders without virtue that feign patriotism.
Only after the contenders prove themselves as trusted sycophants and prostitute themselves to the pro-illegal alien, pro-H-1b visa, pro-common core banker gangsters of the corporate oligarchy, will the donors support them as candidates.
Virtue and patriotism thus excluded, voters are purposely left with choosing between shades of pre-selected gray at the primaries.
National elections results are moot, when gray is the only outcome.
1
He may speak to them in their own language but don't belittle them by thinking their vote is that simply bought. His party is the one who wants to keep so many children of immigrants illegal. It is his party that is cutting education, shifting taxes to the poor, and refusing to expand Medicaid to cover medical expenses.
11
This comment frustrates me. There is a perception that Latino voters in this country are simple minded people who can be easily swayed because a candidate speaks Spanish or has familial ties to the Hispanic community. We are more intelligent than that. Obama didn’t speak “fluent” Spanish and yet an overwhelming majority of Latinos voted for him. Please don’t diminish or underestimate us. Like I posted earlier, it’s going to take a lot more than appearing on Univision or Telemundo or interviewing with Jorge Ramos or displaying Hispanic spouses or relatives to convince us that the candidate has our best interests and the best interest of everyone in the U.S.
107
Jeb is going to be waste of a lot of donor money. The party base simply will not vote for him. A lot of independents will not vote for him. The party base has already had enough Rinos to last a lifetime.
9
I'll go along with Barbara Bush who said on April 25, 2013 during an interview on national TV with Matt Lauer, "We've had enough Bushes in the White House".
'Nuff said. Thank you, Mrs. GHW Bush.
'Nuff said. Thank you, Mrs. GHW Bush.
12
I hope Jeb Bush is successful and is successful across America in 2016.
2
Why? Are you that anxious for another war or do you miss the recession?
4
Really? They're going to do it the hard way this time?
1
All I can say, is "Oh, no. Not another one". I do have to say that Jeb is the least objectionable out that collection of fruitcakes that is today's GOP
1
“Guns, God, Grits and Gravy" is what's for dinner this election. It will be entertaining to see the Republicans duke it out over Florida. They are made for each other. But what a waste of money... Imagine what could be accomplished if campaign money was magically diverted to improve quality of life for the general public?
5
Funny, .... I thought we fought about this in 1776 !!
2
The American taxpayers are very limited intellectually for if they were not they would never have allowed an elected official of any office to be running for any other elected office while they were on the payroll of the other. Paul, Rubio and Cruz are just a few of these individuals who should be considered to be criminals as they are actually paid to do one job but take that money and use it to do another. This corruption is found in the entire American electoral system and needs to be stopped before the American taxpayers have to pay even more for far less. It is very apparent that old saying "Power Corrupts, Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" is alive and well in this American political system.
4
Look the Tea Party has spent the last 6 years getting rid of Obama after the G.W. Bush era, we are just not going to allow another Bush to take us down the same prim rose path.
6
I pray that "Mr. Terri Schiavo" doesn't win any state. Talk about government interference.
184
Kim,
You mean he has two identities? I thought he was Mr. Sugar Lobby.
-dlj.
Beat Rubio? No problem! Challenge him to a debate with one condition, no water during the debate. Not sure why Rubio or Cruz are an issue for Bush. Those two are the token Palins in the 2016 race.
3
No one should object to the fact that "Jeb" Bush inherited his position and prospects in life from a family steeped in wealth and power. After all, TR, FDR, JFK, Al Gore and others have been born in the lap of luxury and used that as a base to do allow others a fighting chance. What kind of moral imagination does it take to be born wealthy into a dynastic clan and then affirm "conservative" values? But the mind-numbing mediocrity of this family can only imagine replicating its wealth and power and keeping it for themselves. They all decry politics, but can't wait to get into the family business. "Jeb" Bush was born with great good fortune, but he has done nothing with it but advance the home team, Bush Inc.
12
No more lousy Dem-lite candidates. No more Bushes. No more denigration of the Conservative base of the GOP. No more.
If Bush gets the nod, the GOP will once again lose.
If Bush gets the nod, the GOP will once again lose.
Republicans will lose no matter what. Gerrymandering and low voter turnout was responsible for their wins in 2014 but Democrats will vote in 2016 and they won't vote for a Republican.
4
King Bush the 3rd will not win anything.
Nor will madam neo-con on the Dems.
We will have fresh new faces to cheer for, on both sides. Fresh in sense the MSM don't like or wanted to push for.
Nor will madam neo-con on the Dems.
We will have fresh new faces to cheer for, on both sides. Fresh in sense the MSM don't like or wanted to push for.
1
Who?
2
@hhhman,
That's for you, me and all fellow citizens to decide.
We must not allow MSM with their special agenda to decide the election for us (NY Times is pushing as hard as they could for Hilarious Clinton). Murdoch's FIX News will greatly influence the GOP chosen nominee. No doubt he will cheer for madam neo-con since she believe in his war mongering manifesto. But for us Dems, the challenge will be to make sure she is not the nominee. That will be our push back against the MSM monopoly.
That's for you, me and all fellow citizens to decide.
We must not allow MSM with their special agenda to decide the election for us (NY Times is pushing as hard as they could for Hilarious Clinton). Murdoch's FIX News will greatly influence the GOP chosen nominee. No doubt he will cheer for madam neo-con since she believe in his war mongering manifesto. But for us Dems, the challenge will be to make sure she is not the nominee. That will be our push back against the MSM monopoly.
2
Terri Schiavo--to me that episode was more troubling than the fact that he's a Bush.
22
Schiavo is an excellent example of Jeb's hypocrisy. He disregard all court orders and acted as a law unto himself. Then when she died he tried to file criminal charges against her husband and harassed him.
9
Yet another front page NY Times article on Jeb Bush, who seems to share the same sense of inevitability to the GOP as HRC does for the Democrats.
Still, I'm waiting for something -- anything, really -- that will tell me as a voter what there is to the Jebster that would recommend him as the next President.
These inside campaign baseball articles generate page views, I suppose, but digesting them is similar to eating useless carbs that do nothing for your health, body, or mind, and occupy about two nanoseconds of your attention.
Do better, Times. Still many months to go; can we start now with some kind of rundown about what -- if anything -- this latest Bush believes in, stands for, hopes to do or possesses a coherent vision of the future beyond locking up Florida in order to sideline that other deep thinker, Marco Rubio.
Still, I'm waiting for something -- anything, really -- that will tell me as a voter what there is to the Jebster that would recommend him as the next President.
These inside campaign baseball articles generate page views, I suppose, but digesting them is similar to eating useless carbs that do nothing for your health, body, or mind, and occupy about two nanoseconds of your attention.
Do better, Times. Still many months to go; can we start now with some kind of rundown about what -- if anything -- this latest Bush believes in, stands for, hopes to do or possesses a coherent vision of the future beyond locking up Florida in order to sideline that other deep thinker, Marco Rubio.
10
"Jeb Bush Team 'Plots' Vast Effort to Capture Florida".
Mmmmm, sounds like huge "right wing conspiracy".
Watchout NYT readers, another evil Bushie using Florida to steal the White House!
Mmmmm, sounds like huge "right wing conspiracy".
Watchout NYT readers, another evil Bushie using Florida to steal the White House!
4
The Bush family needs Jeb to win so he can give a pardon to his brother for his war crimes and the hundreds of thousands of deaths that are on his hands and the torture and black sites and renditions and use of depleted uranium, etc.
They need this win for the family. And that scares me because I think they'll do anything to get the third Bush in the White House.
They need this win for the family. And that scares me because I think they'll do anything to get the third Bush in the White House.
12
It is utterly obscene that one potential presidential candidate is poised to spend $50,000,000.00 to take one state when the country's public school teachers have to spend their own money to buy school supplies for their students, infrastructure is crumbling, the poor are vilified for seeking public aid, and the average debt for college students is nearing six figures as they are forced to borrow at higher rates than Wall Street pays. The Bushes and the other 1 per centers are simply out of touch with the reality of life in this nation and have no business as stewards of the public good. That $50,000,000.00 would be better spent caring for the poor and needy, not buying elections. What would Jesus do?
49
If Jesus came back tomorrow he would not be able to stop throwing up.
3
The teachers in this state, indeed anyone who cares about education, do not forget what Jeb Bush did to education in Florida. No Child Left Behnd was pretty much fully implemented with the impact that we now are so test obsessed that DOE requires end of course exams for kindergarteners. Although former gov. Bush likes to paint himself as the "education governor" there are many in this state who remember that what he did in his time as governor undermined public education to an alarming degree.
3
I do hope they tear each other apart, and that won't be hard, they both have so much baggage.
6
>
>
Oh ya you bet, he needs FL and OH, which is why the OH Governor will be his running mate should he survive the GOP circus.
Bush cannot be POTUS without FL and OH, and he will not lose if he wins both. Most other big states have been decided. Being that FL just re-elected Scott an unpopular and one of the worst FL governors ever, Bush has a good chance.
Remember Bush is going to be speaking Spanish like he was born in Cuba, so beware. He just needs to take away a little of the Hispanic vote from the Dems. The Dems have to hope that the GOP defeats him, because I do not think the Dems can for the above reasons.
You can bet your house that the major deciding point for the Clintons is: can they win both FL and OH.
>
Oh ya you bet, he needs FL and OH, which is why the OH Governor will be his running mate should he survive the GOP circus.
Bush cannot be POTUS without FL and OH, and he will not lose if he wins both. Most other big states have been decided. Being that FL just re-elected Scott an unpopular and one of the worst FL governors ever, Bush has a good chance.
Remember Bush is going to be speaking Spanish like he was born in Cuba, so beware. He just needs to take away a little of the Hispanic vote from the Dems. The Dems have to hope that the GOP defeats him, because I do not think the Dems can for the above reasons.
You can bet your house that the major deciding point for the Clintons is: can they win both FL and OH.
22
So, he's conferring with his brother and the Supreme Court, just to get everything set up, in advance? Great.
5
>
Dear ejzim,
I say that is a good bet too.
Both FL and OH election authorities will be under the control of the GOP. That is why Governorships are so important.
Dear ejzim,
I say that is a good bet too.
Both FL and OH election authorities will be under the control of the GOP. That is why Governorships are so important.
4
Rick Scott won in no small part due to abysmal voter turnout. The turnout is much higher for presidential elections than for gubernatorial in Florida.
2
Essentially the plot revolves around how to dupe the ignorant racist undereducated fake news watching serfs into voting for a party that wants to further enrich the nobility at their expense.
It shouldn't be difficult.
It shouldn't be difficult.
13
It's Sunday, so it must be time for another unwarranted article on "Jeb" Bush from the NYT. Although the Times has spoken critically of the "invisible primary" of donors, it has fallen in line with Big Money and promoted a man who has virtually no support in the Republican party, a man with no reason to run other than a clear sense of entitlement, a man who moved to Florida decades ago simply to find a state to govern and a base to run for president.
So does he have any real ideas that came from thought, study, or conviction? Not really,; all the commitments that count--lower taxes for the rich, increased military spending, "conservative values"--he imbibed with the silver spoon the Bush boys shared. And the commitments that make him for some a "moderate" he acquired from his Mexican-born wife, who has inspired him to convert to Roman Catholicism and "immigration reform." And what does he get from the Church? What the Pope espouses? No, again. He thinks of it as an unchanging foundation of belief. You get the picture. "Jeb" needs all the support that he can get.
So is there any "there" there when it comes to "Jeb" Bush?
No, not really.
So does he have any real ideas that came from thought, study, or conviction? Not really,; all the commitments that count--lower taxes for the rich, increased military spending, "conservative values"--he imbibed with the silver spoon the Bush boys shared. And the commitments that make him for some a "moderate" he acquired from his Mexican-born wife, who has inspired him to convert to Roman Catholicism and "immigration reform." And what does he get from the Church? What the Pope espouses? No, again. He thinks of it as an unchanging foundation of belief. You get the picture. "Jeb" needs all the support that he can get.
So is there any "there" there when it comes to "Jeb" Bush?
No, not really.
7
Jeb needs either a frontal lobotomy, or a morality bypass.
4
The Bush family is truly unique if for nothing else but the way it strategically distributes its young across those of lower forty eight states with the greatest number of electoral votes.
6
No more Bush's. No more Clinton's. Let's break free from the past.
5
The elephant in Jeb Bush's war room is the Republican attitude and policies toward immigrants. He can't change that single-handedly. The damage has been going on for too long and is too extensive.
As for me, when I see Jeb Bush, I remember the year 2000. Oh, yes, I do remember that.
As for me, when I see Jeb Bush, I remember the year 2000. Oh, yes, I do remember that.
9
Many "conservatives" commenting here. Would someone please define for me what attributes constitute a conservative? What are the tenets to which you adhere to govern society on the following issues: 1) monetary policy; 2) education; 3) military; 4) religion; 5) health and well-being of the citizenry; 6) function of government; 7) marriage; 8) weaponry in the hands of ordinary citizens. Please enlighten me.
3
Karen L--Independent, here. I think the answer is: if large amounts of "tax free" money are involved, and if there's a chance of peeking in someone's bedroom window, suffice it to say, the Republican Funeral will be very interested. No need for "policy," or a moral compass.
4
It's nice of you to ask that question but the only answer you're likely to get back is a lot of empty drivel about freedom.
I was a Republican when I was younger but as the party got dumber and meaner I had to leave. No one would talk sense or face facts. I try talking to my conservative family members and they meet every fact or question I present them with, with a talking point from Fox News. It's like being in a room with a bunch of parrots.
I was a Republican when I was younger but as the party got dumber and meaner I had to leave. No one would talk sense or face facts. I try talking to my conservative family members and they meet every fact or question I present them with, with a talking point from Fox News. It's like being in a room with a bunch of parrots.
3
He only needs those 5 important votes that cost Al Gore the presidency, so what's the problem? His daddy can fix it.
11
The things Republicans might do in some future election (it's seldom about Democrats, except Hillary Clinton) is not news. It's fake news, substitute news, space filler. Here's a useful guideline: if cable news traffics in it, it's not news.
6
All Jeb's got to do is make sure the current GOP Governor purges the voter rolls of as many minorities as possible before election day just as he did for his brother Dubya in 2000.
27
I will cut off my nose to spite my face. I will throw money at any (that's right, any....even an Obama) candidate in an effort to stop Bush. I am sick and tired of the "dynasties" of the Bush's and Clinton's. The mere fact that he would even want to run, given the maceration of his beloved brother. shows he is either an absolute idiot or the more likely scenario, he is out to line his pockets and the pockets of his cronies.
8
I wonder what the Repubs are going to do about Florida Governor Rick Scott. The only thing worse for Florida than Rick Scott's first term might be Rick Scott's second term. Does Jeb actually think Florida Dems, who turn out really well for national elections and swung the state twice for Obama, are going to let him off "Scott-free," so to speak?
5
It’s irrelevant. Bush will not be the nominee.
5
news flash jeb. though i liked you as governor in my land of sunshine. the minute you spouted this amnesty baloney. you lost me and i am sure a vast majority of foridians and america. so don't do a obama and hide with allot of effort what you really are. i think after 8 years america does not a phony trhey want a true leader not a lazy one who thinks he's a rock star!
3
"In interviews, a dozen current and former Florida lawmakers embraced Mr. Bush’s likely candidacy, citing his record of cutting taxes and spending as governor."
Cutting taxes (on the rich) and spending = "starve the beast" = austerity. Jeb Bush was a pioneering austerity practitioner long before it became official doctrine all across the U.S. and Europe.
Cutting taxes (on the rich) and spending = "starve the beast" = austerity. Jeb Bush was a pioneering austerity practitioner long before it became official doctrine all across the U.S. and Europe.
6
He's a load - plain and simple. Made a bad public school system worse with the FCAT stupidity that teaches to the test, gave away millions to half-cracked charters schools that fail, millions lost on vouchers that never resulted in education, millions to Bill Bennett for a virtual school that never materialized, millions to Neil Bush for an "educational software program." LOL $300 million in public pension money lost in the ENRON debacle cause Ken Lay was W's good friend. The St. John's River turned into a chemical sewer in Palatka for the benefit of the Koch brothers wood processing plant. Lake Okeechobee a polluting nightmare for the the St. Lucie River in Martin Co. because ag and big sugar own people like Bush and therefore they are allowed to continue to stream ag runoff into the lake which is then flooded into the St. Lucie killing wildlife and making the river unfit for human use as the chemical stew makes its way to the ocean and pollutes the land, beaches and underground water along the way. Against a woman having a choice in regard to her own body, in favor of jumping into private family situations as he did with Terri Schiavo, stand your ground and open carry laws that make FL the wild west. He's a nightmare with a lot of money and no scruples like the rest of the Bush clan who feel entitled in regard to every aspect of life.
31
Now that the Republicans have openly adopted the anti-voting, anti-democracy tactics that corrupted the W elections, history will never reflect that this party of oligarchs and their shameless lackeys "won" an election. When you "win" elections by far-reaching efforts to keep people from voting, you are not "winning." You are cheating.
The nation has not forgotten Bush v. Gore. The nation recognizes that the new Bush is the same as the old Bush - inept, coddled and steeped in a putative birthright to win at any cost. Even the cost of American democracy.
The nation has not forgotten Bush v. Gore. The nation recognizes that the new Bush is the same as the old Bush - inept, coddled and steeped in a putative birthright to win at any cost. Even the cost of American democracy.
14
Many Republican politicians are running as this is how they make their money.
Gingrich, Palin, Santorum, Huckabee, etc. Now we can add Jeb Bush to the money seekers.
Republicans rank and file, and the right wing moneyed backers must enjoy backing losers is all I can figure.
Gingrich, Palin, Santorum, Huckabee, etc. Now we can add Jeb Bush to the money seekers.
Republicans rank and file, and the right wing moneyed backers must enjoy backing losers is all I can figure.
3
"Gentlemen, we must convince these Floridians that we mean them well when we mean them harm. A case of beer to the first person who thinks of a witty slogan for removing health insurance coverage from people who need it."
12
How about this: Who needs health insurance when you've got God in the heavens and Jeb Bush in the White House?
5
Christie, Bush, Rubio, Cruz...Everybody has someone to dislike.
3
Hey Jeb,
I'll consider voting for you if you promise to shutter Dept of Homeland Security and TSA (while return all the other bureaus and administrations back where they came from). Your brother started us down the road to the largest police security surveillance state of all time. Maybe you can fix what he fouled up? I'm doubtful though.
I'll consider voting for you if you promise to shutter Dept of Homeland Security and TSA (while return all the other bureaus and administrations back where they came from). Your brother started us down the road to the largest police security surveillance state of all time. Maybe you can fix what he fouled up? I'm doubtful though.
4
The code name itself should make people run for cover.
4
Will be exciting too see how all the millions will buy an election. Obama did it twice. Now it's time the Republicans get one. It seems the number of contenders overwhelm the number of Democratic contenders. And that's a good thing for the Republican party. And Hillary will get lost in the dust right out of the gate. And that's a better thing.
Right, quantity over quality. Nice try. Bit by bit each clown will get eliminated, the last one standing will be the Koch appointee who has said the fewest stupid/insulting comments and then they will lose. That's been the pattern for a while now.
2
Florida has "vexed" the Bush family??? Let's not forget Florida in the 2000 election and all that transpired as a result.
15
Both men are climate change deniers. In a world rapidly heating up, anyone who votes for any Republican candidate is a fool. Florida will be one of the first states to disappear as the oceans rise. Goodbye Miami.
19
He wants to win Florida? Fine, promise that he will veto any bill that touches Social Security or Medicare. Also, to rein in the far right of his party. Most Americans are not convinced of a third Bush family presidency. Nor, are they convinced of a second Clinton family presidency. But, what they are convinced of is that they need a leader that is willing to fix the broken Congress and government. They need a person like both FDR and Teddy Roosevelt rolled into one. And right now, the field of candidates fall woefully short.
22
I wish that the Times wouldn't make these articles about the 2016 presidential race their top headline stories nearly every day. The should go under "Politics" and be relegated on the front page to a lower status headline -- at least until September.
34
Not me. I want to know as much as possible about what these "people" are up to, when and for how long!
Taking our eye off the ball resulted in a huge landslide win for red statehouses across the country.
Now we have to endure religious freedom bills and anti abortion bills and open carry bill sin COLLEGES!
Hillary Will WIN in a LANDSLIDE!!
Taking our eye off the ball resulted in a huge landslide win for red statehouses across the country.
Now we have to endure religious freedom bills and anti abortion bills and open carry bill sin COLLEGES!
Hillary Will WIN in a LANDSLIDE!!
4
But it's far more entertaining than is Angela Merkel admonishing Alexis Tsipras, yes?
2
RDeanB, we had all better talk, eat and sleep politics from now through the elections in 2016 because the BIG money corporate conglomerate democracy-destroying money does. America needs to wake up and VOTE in primaries. Informed voters. Like New York Times readers.
1
The question should not be who can "win" Florida, but who can "save" Florida. Between pumping millions of gallons of fresh drinking water from their aquifers to cool an obsolete Turkey Point nuclear plant, passing laws in Tallahassee to block any efforts toward sustainability through solar energy, and now passing Orwellian laws to criminalize the use of terms like "Climate Change" and "Rising Sea-level" there is little doubt that in as few as five years we will witness an ecological disaster of unprecedented scale.
Maybe it would be fitting for Bush to inherit this legacy and try to do something to mitigate the damage, but we know that any republican who might win the White House will belong to the Koch Boys and we know how they feel about plundering and raping our Earth.
Maybe it would be fitting for Bush to inherit this legacy and try to do something to mitigate the damage, but we know that any republican who might win the White House will belong to the Koch Boys and we know how they feel about plundering and raping our Earth.
147
And don't forget about how they are making almost criminal to register people to vote.
7
Well said, sir. Florida will be the harbinger of the American future. This will not end well, but the trends will be discovered early in the Sunshine State.
5
Add to that not protecting the Everglades or the fragile environment and coral reefs and lakes
2
I wonder if part of this strategy is to install another Bush family member as governor to ensure the outcome? Kind of like in Bush v. Gore?
16
With millions of Koch/Adelson money, Republicans barely got Rick Scott re-elected as Governor of Florida. Jeb's efforts to distance himself from his brother will be a tough sell since both have exactly the same philosophy: cut taxes for the wealthy and cut regulations on big business. Republican climate change denial will also be difficult to sell to those standing in ankle deep water in MIami.
51
This presidential election has me contemplating a life elsewhere - abroad, possibly.
The Republican possibilities are all frightening, with Bush being the least so; hardly a reassuring thought.
On the Democratic side I can see either of the 2 women as realistic and potentially effective leaders. But can a woman prevail in the US electorate as it is presently constituted? More specifically, could Ms. Warren actually be chosen by voters in the American heartland?
What is most frightening to me today about the US of A is the sense that the better thinker of these 2 well-qualified politicians would most likely NOT be able to win out there.
The Republican possibilities are all frightening, with Bush being the least so; hardly a reassuring thought.
On the Democratic side I can see either of the 2 women as realistic and potentially effective leaders. But can a woman prevail in the US electorate as it is presently constituted? More specifically, could Ms. Warren actually be chosen by voters in the American heartland?
What is most frightening to me today about the US of A is the sense that the better thinker of these 2 well-qualified politicians would most likely NOT be able to win out there.
26
I believe I concur with Mr Hadley, and am thinking about moving to Europe shortly. My heart is sick at what America has become.
He helped steal the election for his brother in 2000, so I wouldn't underestimate him.
40
Don't you mean "misunderestimate" him?
3
I believe the correct verb is "misunderestimate".
1
Maybe a fools paradise (this here Florida focus) when the steps to the White House is Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolinia irrespective of the new date for Florida. To closely win is his only outcome without convincing the RNC or more conservative factions. If Jeb cannot win South Carolina outright then he is better off playing the Mitt game of, (sooner or later) I'll have the nomination. Florida belongs to HRC and the polls will discourage the RNC early on as a Blue State to be ignored.
5
Many seem to dismiss Jeb Bush's candidacy because he is too moderate or too conservative or because of his name. His record though shows he was a two time successful Governor of the (now) fourth largest state, is committed to immigration reform, has strong credentials in improving education, speaks fluent Spanish, has a Mexican wife and lived in Venezuela. Although his support of Israel will alienate some left wing Jewish voters who no longer are concerned about Israel's security this will not be a liability with most voters. The main problem he has with a segment of voters is that he is a Republican. For this group any Republican is anathema. This would include a Lincoln, a Rockefeller or a Reagan. I would carefully consider Hillary Clinton because of her enormous experience and support of women's rights. Her name is of no concern to me.
25
Do you really believe that Latinos will just give their votes to anyone who speaks Spanish? And do you think that because his wife is Mexican that means that somehow he’s “automatically in”? Do you really believe Hispanics voters aren’t discerning?
6
How was he successful?
7
Jeb's credentials on improving education fall apart with any real investigation of his policies and actions. For profit schools are a good place to begin your look.
9
No real conservative, Republican or libertarian wants Jeb Bush as president. His positive credentials from the past are absolutely not due to his efforts. One Bush was enough, two was more than enough and three would be a disaster that conservatives would never recover from, even though the former governor is and never will be a conservative. His open borders policy along with rumored cuts to social security to balance the budget- just don't fly.
11
I've said this in the past since I heard Jeb was going to run. The first signs planted on people's lawn with the Bush name on it will be the signal that the republicans lost the election. it like going to s supermarket And seeing something that people previously contracted food positing from. No matter how cheap that product is everyone who sees it will remember the food poisoning. The Democrates could not ask for a better advertisement against republicans........and it free,
22
Jeb Bush, Rubio (Boy, is he too young!) and the Republican Party itself are way behind the curve of an updated USA.
The Republican field is really open to a sensible and seasoned candidate
with an understanding of today's world. And the Bush name? What a drag!
The Republican field is really open to a sensible and seasoned candidate
with an understanding of today's world. And the Bush name? What a drag!
14
If there is anything Jeb knows how to do, it's how to rig an election in Florida (witness the 2000 Presidential election). The other 49 states might present a problem for him, though.
39
Neither of who I would want in the office of the president. I turn 70 on the first of June, in all my years I haven't seen the same failed plan so many times. In the words of Patrick Henry "Give me Liberty or give me death"
5
Two states the Republicans absolutely have to carry in 2016 are Florida and Ohio. A Jeb Bush/Senator Rob Portman ticket might just do the trick for them.
1
Jeb's Team aided and abetted getting his brother "elected" in Florida amid dubious circumstances in which the Supreme Court essentially gave the election away despite the fact that Gore won the popular vote.
Many Florida voters remember this partisan mischief, and if they don't Hillary's Team will remind them.
Many Florida voters remember this partisan mischief, and if they don't Hillary's Team will remind them.
17
@Cowboy: I remember Jeb sending the Florida State Patrol out on election day to black neighborhoods to spread dis-information and intimidate potential voters. He has no problem using that power for ill purposes. Just like the rest of the Bushes.
5
Jeb has been a great governor for FL. I'm hopeful he wins the presidency.
1
Said like someone who didn't live there.
7
There have been very few candidates who have become president without winning their home state. Mitt Romney, Albert Gore in recent time have been the candidates who did not win their homes states. So Jeb Bush trying to win Florida makes sense but his running does not.
6
BUSH or RUBIO , what will that change anyway? They are both dead bullets already. None of those two cant beat Hillary. Next.
11
I can't quite put my finger on it, but I find the thought of Bush III makes my stomach turn.
His smugness is repelling. His speeches boring and full of the usual Republican bromides. But I think it's that cocky "I know something you dont" smile that is the real turnoff.
The continuing stories here about his game plan--strongaming opponents as he gobbles up donors---only reinforces my sense that until we get money out of politics, there's just no hope for our futures.
We're forced to vote for the richest - not the best--candidate from each party. Is this what the American Revolution was fought for?
His smugness is repelling. His speeches boring and full of the usual Republican bromides. But I think it's that cocky "I know something you dont" smile that is the real turnoff.
The continuing stories here about his game plan--strongaming opponents as he gobbles up donors---only reinforces my sense that until we get money out of politics, there's just no hope for our futures.
We're forced to vote for the richest - not the best--candidate from each party. Is this what the American Revolution was fought for?
61
Christine, don't you know that the NYT is pushing the Jebster because they know he can't win?
I can put my finger on it and it always ends up with a lot of hand washing.
"But I think it's that cocky "I know something you dont" smile that is the real turnoff"
A bit like his brother's "I'm dumb as a box of rocks but my daddy is rich smirk?"
A bit like his brother's "I'm dumb as a box of rocks but my daddy is rich smirk?"
3
One bit of good news, without Florida, it's hard to see how the numbers work for Bush and apparently Florida is not a foregone conclusion. Let's hope the numbers never work for Bush.
30
Jeb Bush has likely already been advised by the NSA that his run for president will increase the zeal of our Muslim detractors in the middle east. Seen as a continuation of a Dynasty of Muslim country invaders the attacks on America and its interest are predicted to increase if he gets even close to the presidency. Will his ambition cost American lives.
9
"Norman Braman, the billionaire Miami auto dealer, has told friends that he may invest up to $10 million in Mr. Rubio’s presidential bid..."
The auto dealer has $10 million to toss into the campaign of Rubio, who may well lose? Clearly, Braman and these other wealthy big donors to political campaigns have too much money to squander. Another indicator the time is long overdue to raise taxes on the rich!
The auto dealer has $10 million to toss into the campaign of Rubio, who may well lose? Clearly, Braman and these other wealthy big donors to political campaigns have too much money to squander. Another indicator the time is long overdue to raise taxes on the rich!
94
It seems the NY Times can't even play it straight in its headlines--without the usual anti-Republican bias. So, it seems that Jeb Bush is "plotting" huh? Well, doesn't THAT seem sinister? And his efforts are "vast" (as in "vast right-wing conspiracy")?
Can I be so bold as to suggest a less ominous sounding headline: "Bush Team develops strategy to win Florida"? This may all seem like nit-picking, but sorry folks--I just don't think this is the type of headline Hillary would earn in your publication.
Can I be so bold as to suggest a less ominous sounding headline: "Bush Team develops strategy to win Florida"? This may all seem like nit-picking, but sorry folks--I just don't think this is the type of headline Hillary would earn in your publication.
6
The New York Times wants to make it sound like Bush needs something more than Daddy's friends on the Supreme Court to win the election. When of course we all know that when it's another Bush boy, he only needs 5 votes.
2
Do you not read the opinion section? Maureen Dowd can't stop blasting Hillary Clinton, never mind conservative David Brooks or Ross trapped-in-the-nineteenth-century Douthat. Even Frank Bruni takes swings against her pretty regularly.
Given the Bush family's machine and Jeb's helping hand with the theft of the 2000 election for his warmongering brother, I think the Times doesn't attack him with anywhere near the ferocity his destructive career deserves.
Given the Bush family's machine and Jeb's helping hand with the theft of the 2000 election for his warmongering brother, I think the Times doesn't attack him with anywhere near the ferocity his destructive career deserves.
3
@Jesse: I'm already sick of the NY Times stories on Jeb. One after another. But I do agree with you about the language choice.
1
The " increasing Democratic tinge of important groups of voters" is certainly going to turn up the heat on Republicans in Florida. Sadly, Bush won't be able to make that a talking point since the state has a law making it illegal to discuss climate change.
6
No we don't have a law like that. But the word came down from Governor Scott's office that branches of the state government were not to use the words "climate change", "global warming" or "sustainability". I assume "medicare fraud" was out of the question.
2
Congratulations - another story on a horse race, devoid of policy issues. No wonder so many Americans view elections as meaningless.
13
You're so right! Elections are meaningless until they're over.
5
Maybe he can get his brother into the governor position before the elections?
9
I know you have newpapers and on-line subscriptions to sell, but no matter how many trees are felled, this race will be between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. A venal Clinton, whose policies are marginally less regressive, will win. If we are lucky, a competent independent will run and could actually win, such is the well-earned disgust of a plurality of Americans for these clueless, callous ruling families.
Dan Kravitz
Dan Kravitz
1
Dan, it won't be between a Bush & a Clinton. Been there - done that. NO more.
With Rick Scott, governor of Florida, Bush can be confident that there enough irrational voters in the state to put him over the top. When high tide means wet streets in Miami and Scott can deny the evidence of global warming and be elected one can only wonder what it will take to waken Florida? A Hurricane? Well, with a new voter registration purge Imagine this: "a Republican governor in a crucial battleground state instructs his secretary of state to purge the voting rolls of hundreds of thousands of allegedly ineligible voters. The move disenfranchises thousands of legally registered voters, who happen to be overwhelmingly black and Hispanic.......Back in 2000, 12,000 eligible voters – a number twenty-two times larger than George W. Bush’s 537 vote triumph over Al Gore – were wrongly identified as convicted felons and purged from the voting rolls in Florida" (Rollingstone) With Scott on the job, the number of voters purged will be record breaking.
Hard work, lots of money, and a willingness to corrupt the process is all it will take in Florida, our most corrupt state. Republicans and Jeb Bush know this and have dedicated themselves to success. America will only pay attention if there is sex involved. Between Bush and Scott, that is unlikely.
Hard work, lots of money, and a willingness to corrupt the process is all it will take in Florida, our most corrupt state. Republicans and Jeb Bush know this and have dedicated themselves to success. America will only pay attention if there is sex involved. Between Bush and Scott, that is unlikely.
33
In our defense, the Democratic Party of Florida has consistently failed to put forward a compelling candidate in the last three gubernatorial elections and the Republican candidate has only barely won election the last two times. This state has also voted decidedly Democratic in federal elections during that period and the higher number of registered voters remains Democratic. Finally, to suggest that Florida, which ranks among the most transparent states in the country (sunshine laws), is more corrupt than, say, New York, is just naive and contrary to all evidence.
1
Love the headline title - between the words: Bush - Plots - Vast Effort - Florida: "HOW SINISTER" yellow journalism?
3
Did anyone say Savings and Loan Scandal? Go online and search for "the role of the Bush family in the savings and loan scandal."
End of game.
End of game.
42
actually go on line and study the reason why it happened. the affordable home act remember that from your man clinton. who by the way after he saw what was happeneing tried to rein it in before he left. 2 in your party dodd and franks refused to allow any bill that would rein it in once under clinton and twice under bush, all while receiving cozey loans and campaign money! so when they collapsed there reward they get to write are new banking laws while parachuting out of office with millions in the bank and a 100% pension with mediacl that we pay for! now dd you understand what i wrote it's all there on thde internet if you actually troll for the truth not talking points!
1
Well he fixed the elections to favor his brother in 2000, and Florida is still controlled by corrupt Republcians. I wonder if we can see Bush's private
e mails about the 2000 election. We have had 20 years of a Bush running this country already, and we don;t need another one. Bush 1, eight years under Reagan and four years as president. Bush 2, eight years a president. DO people look at what has happened to this country under a Bush family regime? Really?
e mails about the 2000 election. We have had 20 years of a Bush running this country already, and we don;t need another one. Bush 1, eight years under Reagan and four years as president. Bush 2, eight years a president. DO people look at what has happened to this country under a Bush family regime? Really?
46
Everyone knows how the Bushes "win" Florida.
How are the Bushes going to steal Florida this time?
How are the Bushes going to steal Florida this time?
35
With lots of cash: Just like the last time!
(Of course, have the manufacturer of the voting machines in your back pocket helped!)
(Of course, have the manufacturer of the voting machines in your back pocket helped!)
5
@Robert Eller: "How are the Bushes going to steal Florida this time?" I'm sure their operatives - headed by Karl Rove most likely, though his plan failed in Ohio in 2012 - are working on it as I write this.
3
I'm no fan of the Bush's per-say but your title which includes the word "plot" infers something nefarious. Fact is at least you have choices with the Republicans. I see little choice on the other side of the aisle which is sad!
3
Who bloody cares?
I am already bored and the election is more than a year away!
By running for office, these misfits and political hacks have cheapened the office and it is clear that the whole process has been corrupted by huge amounts of cash being spent by billionaires who want to buy the Whiten House!
I am already bored and the election is more than a year away!
By running for office, these misfits and political hacks have cheapened the office and it is clear that the whole process has been corrupted by huge amounts of cash being spent by billionaires who want to buy the Whiten House!
21
I would never vote for a Bush. Too much corruption. A "tribute" at a dying aids bedside? Give me a break! He even exploited an aids death for political purposes! How absolutely sad!
47
I just can't see voting for another Bush. Talk about trying to re-brand the VHS as new and innovative. Good luck with that! I'm not seeing that with Jeb. I really thing we need to have 2 national elections to pick our party's candidate for president. The first vote should be in January and weed out the candidates to 4. Then the remaining 4 would be weeded out to One a few months later. Just sayiny...
8
Remember 2000! I'm not posting about hanging chads, butterfly ballots or other manifestations of Florida's antiquated and inefficient administration of its election. Nor am I primarily still steamed up over the dilatory tactics employed against a recount which gave the Supreme Court cover to halt the proceedings. I'm talking about what the mass media largely failed to cover, the employment of state troopers to intimidate voters and the wholesale purge of mostly black voters from the voter registration lists, a harbinger of things to come.
52
@whysaduck: Yes, that is my major complaint about Jeb. He sent state employees to intimidate and misinform and purge the rolls. It truly makes me sick to my stomach to think of it. This Family will do whatever is necessary to win. They scare me silly, the Bushes.
7
I have never understood why the national media didn't pay more attention to this sleazy, underhanded move by the candidate's brother. Without the purge of mostly African-American votes, the butterfly ballot would have been a minor glitch. Since most of the country is unaware of the true nature of Jeb's character. Democrats owe it to the electorate to make this an issue in the campaign.
1
The issue for Bush in 2016 isn't Florida, it's the fact he's an ideal candidate for Hillary to trounce, simply because his "baggage" is far heavier than hers.
And even the dyed in the wool, "dixiepublicans" of the old South know they can't win the Presidency without independent swing voters in November 2016.
And swing voters will likely find the bumper sticker motto, "Three Strikes And We're All Out", irresistible.
And even the dyed in the wool, "dixiepublicans" of the old South know they can't win the Presidency without independent swing voters in November 2016.
And swing voters will likely find the bumper sticker motto, "Three Strikes And We're All Out", irresistible.
12
Hillary will be toast by ’16. It’s highly likely she will face multiple perjury charges well before the election.
Whatta gamble for the smart Bush!
Go for a win in FLORIDA!!!
A regular JulieAnnie I tell ya!!
Crush Baby Marco. Trash Tail Gunner Rafael, Drain 2 Buck Huck. Grind Gentle Graham...Rock Raging Rick & Ragin' Rick.
Winning in Florida will banish Brainy Ben to the also ran.
Wastin' Walker and kicking Kasick's kester!
Watch out for Trump though...all the old NYer support!!
Go for a win in FLORIDA!!!
A regular JulieAnnie I tell ya!!
Crush Baby Marco. Trash Tail Gunner Rafael, Drain 2 Buck Huck. Grind Gentle Graham...Rock Raging Rick & Ragin' Rick.
Winning in Florida will banish Brainy Ben to the also ran.
Wastin' Walker and kicking Kasick's kester!
Watch out for Trump though...all the old NYer support!!
3
All it takes is money, money and more money. Best estimates are currently you must raise a billion dollars, yes billion like in B, if you are going to be competitive. So, what do you need to promise to get that billion? Nothing short of your soul, and even then maybe more. Cry your heart out all you others, Jeb may be the only one to be able to do that. Christie? Of course not. Walker? Of course not. Paul? Never. Nothing short of Ms. Hillary dropping out of the race would be able to fuel the dollars for others. You can always hope.
3
My plan is to have all business affairs wrapped up in 22 months and a plane ticket out of here, no matter who wins. There are no real leaders anymore in America anymore. A nice 4 year visa to Australia is the goal.
18
I hear you, Rob; have similar thoughts, but really, Australia? See, the problem is, there's no place in the world to run to, no place to hide. I'm thinking that the best strategy is to hang on to what you've got. There's no telling where this will all lead and a secure income stream is always a good idea.
1
@FloridaRob: Sounds like a good plan. Want company? I keep encouraging my daughter to just leave this country and try to find a life worth living away from America. I'm sad I feel the way I do about my country. But it is the way I feel.
Free access to the public relations folks of a candidate should not translate into back to back to back coverage of that candidate's "campaign strategies." Roll up your sleeves and cover real issues and the political records of would-be candidates -- the votes, vetoes, the programs promoted or stopped. Then, compare candidates -- issue by issue.
Let your business and finance reporters cover the campaign strategies, because that's just following where the money comes from and where it goes, including to the PR folks paid to distract political reporters from the issues.
Let your business and finance reporters cover the campaign strategies, because that's just following where the money comes from and where it goes, including to the PR folks paid to distract political reporters from the issues.
5
When Jeb was governor back in 2000, he instituted a plan to disenfranchise convicted felons. While states like Florida require that a felon petition the governor to have their voting rights restored, many other states automatically restore a person's rights when they leave prison. Jeb and Katherine Harris (remember her?) required these former felons living in Florida to petition the state where they had been incarcerated to have their voting rights restored. These states of course had no process for this and could produce no letter because voting was restored as a matter of law.
Two federal judges instructed the state to stop doing this but those orders were ignored and Jeb continued to instruct county election officials to not register these former felons without the letter. After the election was over and this issue came more fully to light, they continually denied that such a memo existed to the counties. Until one of the county election supervisors produced the memo....
All of this is on top of the 200,000 people that were knocked off the voting rolls based upon a faulty matching system of finding former felons. The company that was hired to do this work finally admitted when it was over that less than 5% of the people who were removed from the rolls should have been removed. They matched explicitly by race in this....
With Republicans controlling many state legislatures and governors offices, if you think that Jeb can't win the election, thing again.
Two federal judges instructed the state to stop doing this but those orders were ignored and Jeb continued to instruct county election officials to not register these former felons without the letter. After the election was over and this issue came more fully to light, they continually denied that such a memo existed to the counties. Until one of the county election supervisors produced the memo....
All of this is on top of the 200,000 people that were knocked off the voting rolls based upon a faulty matching system of finding former felons. The company that was hired to do this work finally admitted when it was over that less than 5% of the people who were removed from the rolls should have been removed. They matched explicitly by race in this....
With Republicans controlling many state legislatures and governors offices, if you think that Jeb can't win the election, thing again.
25
You've got a real winner of an issue here. Something everyone can get behind. I can see the bumper sticker now:
FELONS FOR HILLARY
FELONS FOR HILLARY
1
Ted Cruz will win Florida.
Only to Embark on his Cruz to nowhere. But far more likely, he'll be at the airport when his ship comes in.
1
Odd, but this reminds me of Gulianai's strategy. He bet it all on FL, too. Of course, he probably didn't have all those Disney World reunions! Heh
4
It's remarkable that the Republicans would consider Jeb Bush after he threw the presidential election in 2000 in Florida! The damage that his brother George W. visited upon this nation is enormous! One of the consequences of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 is the creation of religious extremists who have been unleashed in Iraq and Syria.
138
It is constantly amazing how so-called Progressives can rewrite history. Absolving red-line Obama from any responsibility for the mess in Syria, absolutely amazing.
Florida will be a tough challenge for Jeb since down here we all remember what he did as Governor. Things like making his brother President - a proven curse on our country.
115
"With its geographical vastness"? I had to go look. I'm from the opposite corner, Washington, and it turns out that we have more geographical vastness than Florida, 71,362 square miles to their 65,755. And if you lopped 14,000 feet off of Mount Rainier, we'd still have the edge in the third dimension, 411 feet compared to 345 feet for Britton Hill. And as the ocean rises, as it surely will with all these Republicans in office, Florida shrinks a lot faster than Washington will! They've got lots of people (19.9 million compared to 7) and electoral votes (29 to 12), and a huge edge in citrus crops, but "geographical vastness" is hardly something they can crow about. We can't either, we're 18th among 50 states, but we're well ahead of Florida.
Van
Van
7
There is too much corruption, and crony capitalism in Jeb Bush's background. Being a Bush has gotten him this far. When the facts about the Bush family is thoroughly understood, Jeb should be finished. Jeb has been no angel, an active participant in typical Bush style corruption. Read "American Dynasty" by Kevin Phillips.
176
Watch House of Cards to see how Obama and Clinton's do business. Both sides have faults!
5
HOC is not a Clinton biography.
3
What I'm worried about is -- does the Democratic Party have what it takes to lay out those facts, repeatedly, in clear and easy-to-understand language? The party has missed some very obvious opportunities in the past to distinguish for voters what happens to their pocketbooks, their liberty, their educational systems and their government when Republicans are in charge.
2
Well, it WOULD stop his campaign in its tracks, but if he has to work this hard to win Florida, there's hope.
31
I don't know what Jeb is thinking, but he clearly isn't listening to the conservative base out there. I know a lot of conservatives and I don't know a single one that would vote for Bush, including myself. He is going to waste a lot of money and time to run a campaign that has zero chance of winning the nomination.
19
It's not necessarily wasteful. Lot's of people have jobs; the media profits, of course. The New York Times has material for many, many articles that are keeping you and me engaged. So, that's all on the plus side. And he's a rich man - let him spread the wealth around a bit.
5
James
I am curious about who you would vote for.
I am curious about who you would vote for.
1
Jeb Bush will not get my vote, the media and the Republican establishment can work together all they want to nominate a liberal Republican but it will not convince me or million of voters to nominate Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, or some other milk-toast Republican.
16
Wow, what an interesting phenomenon! Republicans saying they will never vote for a Bush. That juxtaposes with another under-the-radar phenomenon of people like me, Democrats for 50 years, but will not vote for Hillary in a hundred years. But the Bushes and the Clintons speak of a past dark era in our country's history and I don't think anyone in America wants either one of these turkeys.
5
That's hilarious. You obviously were either not around for Jeb's tenure as governor here in FL, or your memory has failed you. Liberal is the last word to describe his actions in office.
2
This 72 year old liberal agrees with you!
1
is winning florida really considered winning?
16
When the Supreme Court gave "W" the Florida election in 2000, it put him over the top.
Whether "as goes Florida, so goes the nation" is true these days I leave for fate to answer.
Whether "as goes Florida, so goes the nation" is true these days I leave for fate to answer.
1
@henry t
'Appreciate the humor in that, but Florida and/or Ohio have decided recent national elections.
'Appreciate the humor in that, but Florida and/or Ohio have decided recent national elections.
4
Jeb W. Bush for president? Good luck with that....
56
It's a critical state from electoral perspective. State's like yours and mine generally vote in democrats and have little ability to vote for most qualified candidates. It's more about following the unions recommended candidate and take from the rich and give to the poor which drives the simple mindedness of California and New York politics.
2
Jeb is attracting money - but not voter support.
He appears lazy, uninformed, lackadaisical and passionless.
This run seems based more on entitlement and boredom rather than a desire to accomplish anything.
He appears lazy, uninformed, lackadaisical and passionless.
This run seems based more on entitlement and boredom rather than a desire to accomplish anything.
248
He also has a wimpy handshake.
3
So were his dad and brother, charles. That didn't stop them. ALL that can stop another Bush is OUR votes and we must all use them.
2
Jeb was a great Governor, one of the best we have ever havd in Florida. He is also very popular with the Hispanic community. How could he not win the state?
10
His party is deeply anti Hispanic?
20
Really? What did he do that was so great? You call more guns violence and less education a good thing?
10
Man, get your head out of that Florida sand!
11
It sounds like his job all these years has been to network and curry favor for this one task, plodding towards Bethlehem. The family career being passed down: stay in the business, son!
He's got the framework in place, has so for decades. Endless money and contacts. But that population that keeps changing is the hard part, but it is for all the Republicans.
He's got the framework in place, has so for decades. Endless money and contacts. But that population that keeps changing is the hard part, but it is for all the Republicans.
73
Jeb Bush has not won a single straw poll vote in Florida. NOT ONE. The state party GOP straw polling was won by Scott Walker.
The new rpof (Republican Party of Florida) are quite anti-Bush, so I am not sure where the media are getting the information that Bush is #1 in Florida. I can assure you that he is NOT #1 in Florida. Rubio is unpopular here now as well because he lied about his support for amnesty. Neither is likely to do well in Florida.
The new rpof (Republican Party of Florida) are quite anti-Bush, so I am not sure where the media are getting the information that Bush is #1 in Florida. I can assure you that he is NOT #1 in Florida. Rubio is unpopular here now as well because he lied about his support for amnesty. Neither is likely to do well in Florida.
2
Is the GOP rationale for rejecting Bush that they do not want to win the Presidency. Have they really become that comfortable as rock throwers.
8
No, his positions are against the beliefs of most of the people in the party that don't have to take money from someone else to get elected.
1
Huh? Bush is not enough of a hater to garner GOP support? What a hoot!
8
The country's long term employment prospects have been ransomed already. Yellen and the Fed are down to their last option: quantitative pleasing. Trying to fix it would be a totally thankless job. Dems made the mess, now let the Dems try to fix it. 4 more years of ineptitude should wake up the voters. As one commenter already said; he's planning a 4 yr gig in Australia after the election no matter who wins.
I'd rather reelect carter at his current age than elect another bush. And I'm a Libertarian independent.
113
I stand with Scott on this point. Another Bush is the death knell of America, but the same applies to Hillary. America, let's move on from the awful past. Elizabeth Warren, please stand up.
8
Jimmy Carter is the best write-in candidate backup plan yet. All respect to Mr. Carter - he's earned it.
A Bush family member plotting in Florida? Justice Scalia can't wait. Though Kathleen Harris will sit it out. Fortunately for America the landscape of the sunshine state has shifted. Not this tune, Jeb.
122
Jeb Bush will never get my vote ! Go home Jeb America does not need you ! Senator Rubio has my vote and is the man we need to get America back on track !
5
You have no trouble voting for a proven liar like Rubio?
It's worse than I thought!
It's worse than I thought!
9
Rubio? He doesn't have an IQ equivalent to room temperature. He wins the award for dimmest bulb in the Republican party. Thanks for the laugh though.
14
Governor Jeb Bush will defeat Clan Clinton and Jeb Bush WILL WIN Texas, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, of course the slam dunk of Florida, the South, most of the West and large swaths of the industrial Northeast and the Midwest.
Governor John Edward aka "JEB" BUSH will LOCK IN another 4 years for Conservative Christians and Roman Catholics by winning the general election.
The Jeb Bush White House Victory will be a particularly sweet and joyful victory!
Governor John Edward aka "JEB" BUSH will LOCK IN another 4 years for Conservative Christians and Roman Catholics by winning the general election.
The Jeb Bush White House Victory will be a particularly sweet and joyful victory!
5
Yes no doubt he will win and name Neil Bush, the forgotten mastermind of the savings and loan disaster, secretary of the treasury. Heaven forfend.
45
What you say has a ring of truth to it. The problem is he will not make it through the nomination process.
3
After Scott Walker wins IA, NH, SC and NV, even if Bush ekes out a win in Florida, it won't change the trajectory. The Republican base does not want Bush and all of Rove's money men can't foist Jeb upon us. Walker will win the nomination and the election - and NYT readers will be as shocked, shocked as they were in 1980.
1
Why are the NY times even writing a article about Jeb. He will be dropping out before the Florida primary. He has no shot in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina. Anybody know's if you don't win at least 1 of the first 3 you will never be president.
40
His brother became president without winning the election....
269
And he is going to need every one of those muscles as families fight with the result of all that testing he began in the State. Even the Republican legislature is now walking some of it back as kids are overwhelmed with tests but the state of education in Florida has not gotten better. And this man wants us to let him run the national government? I agree with Barbara that two Bushes was enough!
93
Make it three. Include shrillery.
4
She recanted!
Jeb might get the money, but he won't have the votes of the conservative base.
31
enough already with the jeb and OMalley stories. neither has chance of getting through the primaries and are not even viable straw men for their respective parties against the leading candidates. this is more main stream media circus in lieu of coveriing the issues that need to be discussed.
22
I predict Jeb Bush will 'win' Florida in 2016 by the same 537 votes George W. Bush 'won' Florida by in 2000.
329
And the Supreme Court will step in .... again .... to see that it happens.
The turmoil that will result will be interesting to observe because it will foster a movement titled ...... "We aren't taking it anymore."
The turmoil that will result will be interesting to observe because it will foster a movement titled ...... "We aren't taking it anymore."
3
Life long conservative Republican and I never have liked Jeb. In the GOP circles I'm in I have yet to hear a single person say that he would be their choice. His positions on Common Core and Amnesty, among other things, run contrary to the rank and file who are highly motivated and who are reminded every time they send their kids out the door that his test heavy education policy and support for Common Core are reasons to oppose him. Ditto with every crime report that notes that the perp is part of the illegal amnesty regime of Obama. The person most folks want to hear from is Bobby Jindal. If he gets in then he'll get a warm reception and lots of volunteers.
8
And no chance of actually winning.
8
Jindal, boy governor, right next to Rubio, boy senator. They will not survive a quick gulp of gulf water - much less the rising ride that will sink their dinghys.
3
Bobby Jindal is a sadsack with negative charisma. Please make him the Republican nominee.
3
Clinton/Bush. Bush/Clinton The difference that makes no difference.
13
It does when it comes to Supreme Court nominees.
5
It makes all the difference in the world--as much as Bush/Gore. Dubya was the worst president in American history. Gore would have been so much better. No Democrat could have been worse.
3
Jeb Bush is a RhINO and a loser with the next presidential election. I'm tired of all this "let's just get along" attitude. I want a conservative and will vote accordingly. Quit now Jeb while you still have some dignity.
6
I don't have a position on Jeb one way or the other, but it is the attitude like this which put Obama in the White House and all of you throwing bombs at one of the few potential Republicans that can win enough moderate votes to end this farce in the White House are helping ONLY to elect Clinton or maybe even Elizabeth Warren. When you forced Mitt Romney to the right in the primaries and to say things that he would live to regret, you still were not satisfied. Really, do you think Cruz or Huckabee has any better chance than Rick Santorum who ran for President after losing reelection in his own state by a huge margin. Wake up and smell the coffee. You are doing to the GOP what Ralph Nader did to the Dems in 2000, putting the unattainable "perfect" ahead of the attainable goal of defeating the Dems.
2
You go, Nolan. Ted Cruz is announcing his candidacy tomorrow. Donald Trump has been making noises about withdrawing his grotesquely ugly mug from our TV screens so he can run. And you can always write one in for Palin.
4
I respectfully agree to disagree. For the conservatives (the silent majority of the GOP) we have put forth "moderate" candidates for the last few presidential elections. Where has that got us? Lost elections! Only when true conservative candidates are put forward giving us a conservative choice... they always seem to win... Being a New Yorker, I can see your point of view, but outside of the large cities... your logic doesn't hold true. My best to you and your family!
The world is sick to death of the Bush's and the Clinton's.....enough is enough. America has much better to offer than these used up, tired, same old same old.
23
On the other hand, as former governor, Jeb is expected to win Florida, and thus must win it to stay serious. If he loses Florida, or does less well than expected, he might as well concede the nomination.
3
Why use the word "plot" in the title and the opening? The primary meaning of plot is in the context of secret planning to achieve an improper or illegal goal. Why not use "plan," which would be more neutral and, I would suggest, accurate.
7
OK, let's use "plan."
Jeb's team is "planning" to win Florida.
Just like Jeb and Katherine Harris "planned" to win Florida for George W. in 2000.
Happy now? That neutral enough for you?
Jeb's team is "planning" to win Florida.
Just like Jeb and Katherine Harris "planned" to win Florida for George W. in 2000.
Happy now? That neutral enough for you?
12
I voted for Jeb twice for Governor.
I will not be voting for Jeb 'Amnesty' Bush for either the GOP nomination or in the general election.
And, I do not need to be lectured that his views are adult-like and mine are not.
Hardly a winning strategy to win over votes.
I will not be voting for Jeb 'Amnesty' Bush for either the GOP nomination or in the general election.
And, I do not need to be lectured that his views are adult-like and mine are not.
Hardly a winning strategy to win over votes.
45
"And, I do not need to be lectured that his views are adult-like and mine are not."
But what if that's the truth?
But what if that's the truth?
4
BrentJatko - Don't be silly. The only way anyone can be a Republican is by denying the truth. I know because I was a Republican at one time.
5
Ahh, the big-tent, moderate Republican: too left for the right and too right for the left.
25
Jeb's Florida strategy sounds similar to Giuliani's in 2008. Jeb will have more money than Rudy did, but he will come limping into Florida, winless after Iowa, NH, and SC, just like Rudy. And, just like Rudy, it will be too late. The nomination will be out of his reach.
14
He can always do what was done in 2000.
Tell the conservatives that "droves " of Jews,blacks and Latino's are being bused to the polls by liberals.
It worked for Netanyahu.
Tell the conservatives that "droves " of Jews,blacks and Latino's are being bused to the polls by liberals.
It worked for Netanyahu.
343
good one
15
And don't forget to blame The Gays.
7
You left out gays, mungomunro. They get more conservative kooks out to vote that any other group. Bush is already saying that business owners should have the right to refuse service to gay people, so using homophobia to get votes is part of his playbook.
11
Charismatic Senator Rubio? If there is one word that does not describe Rubio. it's charismatic. Dull, pedantic, uninformed and not ready for prime time come to mind.
325
Add to that list -- emptiest of empty suits.
18
they call it charismatic because some think it's eye candy
3
When I saw the words "charismatic" and Rubio linked together gasped a nd saw the poor man grasping for his water bottle.
1
Although winning Florida outright is an admirable preference for members of Bush Inc., they also have the peace of mind of knowing that they have the proven backup plan of stealing it.
And with three of the five justices in the Supreme Court's majority having been chosen by Bushes, there wouldn't seem to be much need for worry about the ultimate outcome, either.
Even the photo of Mr. Bush that accompanies this article would seem to suggest that it's in the bag.
And with three of the five justices in the Supreme Court's majority having been chosen by Bushes, there wouldn't seem to be much need for worry about the ultimate outcome, either.
Even the photo of Mr. Bush that accompanies this article would seem to suggest that it's in the bag.
289
No one I I know wants another Bush except someone who belongs to the NWO or perhaps endorses agenda 21 which wants to depopulate the earth by billions of people and have no borders so the world can be ruled by the elites. These cretins are not looking out after your best interest and if given power again we will see and witness the total monstrosity of the evil deeds. Jeb Bush needs to go home and spend some of that ill gotten money he has gotten from questionable deeds and leave the rest of the country alone.
108
Gore lost in Florida, even the NY Times did a recount and said he lost. Stop the 15 year old lie please.
5
If that's true then why was the Supreme Court asked to intervene?
18
Jeb Bush is not going to win Florida. Central Florida and the panhandle will make sure of that.
All you hear in Central Florida is two names. Walker and Cruz.
People laugh if you mention the "Boy Senator" Marco Rubio."
All you hear in Central Florida is two names. Walker and Cruz.
People laugh if you mention the "Boy Senator" Marco Rubio."
39
Ole Jeb 'Amnesty' Bush can write off SWFL too.
4
The timing of the Florida primary is indeed ideal for Jeb Bush. His strategy is much more plausible than Rudy Giuliani's in 2008, yet it may still run into the same problem. Will Bush still be viewed as a top-tier candidate if he fails to win any state or caucus before Florida? His support among actual Republican voters, as opposed to donors, remains dangerously low for an alleged top contender (albeit not as low as Chris Christie). His party is not all that enthused about his candidacy. And Marco Rubio is going to get his time in the spotlight before this year is out.
54
No more Bushes. No more Clintons.
69
There is no similarity between the Bush family in politics and the Clintons.
The Bushes are now on their FOURTH generation in Americans politics:
1. Prescott Bush (Jeb's grandfather) -- U.S. senator
2. George H. W. Bush (Jeb's father) -- U.S. president
3. George W. Bush (Jeb's brother) -- U.S. president
4. George P. Bush (Jeb's son)-- Texas Land Commissioner.
- - - - - - - - - - -
There is ONE generation of Clintons in American politics:
1. Bill Clinton -- U.S. president
2. Hillary Clinton -- U.S. Sec. of State
The Bushes are now on their FOURTH generation in Americans politics:
1. Prescott Bush (Jeb's grandfather) -- U.S. senator
2. George H. W. Bush (Jeb's father) -- U.S. president
3. George W. Bush (Jeb's brother) -- U.S. president
4. George P. Bush (Jeb's son)-- Texas Land Commissioner.
- - - - - - - - - - -
There is ONE generation of Clintons in American politics:
1. Bill Clinton -- U.S. president
2. Hillary Clinton -- U.S. Sec. of State
212
I'm with you, brother. There are too many talented people out there to fall back on those two families. New blood.
12
There is one more politically motivated Bush family member - second son John Ellis Bush, Jr (Jeb) is now a member of the National Immigration Forum since 2013.
And don't forget cousin Governor Scott Walker.
And don't forget cousin Governor Scott Walker.
7
I think Ol Jeb can get a lot of Democrat votes down there in Florida. Especially since he wants to give amnesty to the illegals.
10
You must not know any Democrats.
3
I really never want to see a Clinton or Bush in office ever again. This isn't England where the same family holds power forever. Please people pay attention and start demading accountability, they are there to serve us, please remember this fact.
34
Why? The country didn't do well enough under Clinton? I seem to recall otherwise.
17
Actually, the British royal family doesn't have any real power. Since 1980, the Brits have had the same number of Prime Ministers as we have had presidents, and none of them have been from the same family.
3
The economy did well despite Clinton not because of him. There was a republican congress and the 1st internet boom.
1
This is so funny when it comes to evaluating a general election in Florida, won by democrats in the last 2 out of 3 presidential elections. Sure, Jeb can win the Florida primary with the bizarre politics of the GOP in this state. But this doesn't translate after he sells his soul to the Tea Party and other right wing groups.
Bush will be trounced by any democrat in the general election in Florida.
Bush will be trounced by any democrat in the general election in Florida.
117
What are you talking about? Bush told conservatives that he didn't need their votes, and that he could win the election without them... thank you, very much. He's running a Rockefeller Republican campaign: conservative on the fiscal issues and moderately left on the social ones.
Conservatives despise Jeb.
Conservatives despise Jeb.
10
No more Bushes. No more Clintons. No more Obamas. No more corporate puppets. America cannot afford even on more!
31
Agree! Elect me!!!
3